State may impose cess on fuel for welfare of auto-taxi drivers

The state government of Maharashtra, India, is considering imposing a 1 paise per litre levy on petrol and diesel or a levy of up to INR1,000 ($15) on commercial or luxury vehicle registration to fund a proposed welfare board for 13 lakh taxi, autorickshaw and truck drivers and cleaners. The other option under consideration is budgetary allocation from the transport department's annual revenue. The welfare board is expected to introduce eight to nine schemes providing health, education, pension and assistance in case of fatal accidents to drivers earning less than INR10,000 per month.

Mumbai: With the state government formulating a welfare board for autorickshaw, taxi and truck drivers, and cleaners, there could be an additional burden on motorists.

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To raise funds for welfare schemes, the state government is likely to impose a cess of 1 paise per litre on diesel and petrol or a cess of up to ₹1,000 on registration of luxury/commercial vehicles. Another option is to make budgetary allocation from the annual revenue of the transport department.

As announced in the budget, the state government is expected to move the proposal for constituting the welfare board soon. It will also introduce a bill to tweak the existing laws to make the provision for funding of the proposed board. A committee appointed under former transport commissioner Madhukar Gaikwad has suggested the three options to raise funding. The state labour department expects that 13 lakh drivers and cleaners will get benefits.

The committee has insisted on a cess either on petrol-diesel or a one-time cess on registration of luxurious or commercial vehicles, which is expected to accumulate into ₹15 crore a year. The state records a consumption of over 1,400 crore litres a year. The finance and planning departments have, however, opposed imposition of such cess, saying it will be against the sentiments of the motorists as the VAT and cess on fuel is highest in the state.

“The committee has insisted on a separate source of income for effective implementation of welfare schemes. The schemes meant for the construction workers are being implemented effectively because of the 1% cess imposed on infrastructure and housing projects. On the contrary, the board meant for domestic workers is toothless because the funding has to be done in the state budget. Taking cues from these instances, the committee has recommended an independent source of funding for the board,” a labour department official said.

The board is expected to roll out eight to nine welfare schemes related to health, education of children, pension and assistance for fatal accidents among others.

The state is expected to put a cap on the monthly income of ₹10,000 while extending the benefits to the drivers according to the definition of the below poverty line. “Apart from taxi and auto, we will cover drivers from other sectors like aggregator services, goods carriages and truck-tempo operators. Though we have not estimated the number of beneficiaries and the funds required, we are planning to cover all types of drivers, excluding owners of vehicles. The cap of income has been kept for effective implementation of the schemes,” another official said.