Ludhiana railway station: No biz due to train suspension but vendors told to pay licence fee

Crying foul over the announcement, the vendors said that they haven’t earned a single penny since September 1 due to the farmers’ protest.

Already reeling under financial crisis due to the suspension of train services in wake of farmers’ protests, vendors at the Ludhiana railway station suffered another blow on Thursday as the station authorities asked them to deposit licence fee for the last four months.

Ram Swaroop, head of the Ludhiana vendor cooperative society, said they have received a notice from Ludhiana Railway superintendent Ashok Salaria, in which the superintendent asked them to deposit the licence fee for June 25 to October 31. (HT PHOTO)

Crying foul over the announcement, the vendors said that they haven’t earned a single penny since September 1 due to the farmers’ protest.

According to the vendors, when the train services were suspended due to the Covid outbreak in March, the railways had waived off the licence fee till June 25. Though the trains started running from June 1, it was interrupted again in September by the farmers.

Ram Swaroop, head of the Ludhiana vendor cooperative society, said they have received a notice from Ludhiana Railway superintendent Ashok Salaria, in which the superintendent asked them to deposit the licence fee for June 25 to October 31.

Vinod Thakur, a vendor, said they were expecting another waiver, but the railways has left them high and dry with this move.

When contacted, Ashok Salaria said that after June 25, they have not received any communication from the head office for a fee waiver, so he has asked the vendors to deposit the fee. “If we get an order from the headquarters, we will inform the vendors accordingly,” he added.