New Delhi, Apr 5 (KNN) Even though there were promises made prior to the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the E Way Bill norm that things would change, transporters are yet to see an end to inspector raj, All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) informed.

Talking to KNN, Naveen Kumar Gupta, Secretary General of All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) said that ‘ease’ for transporters still seems a far-fetched reality.

Gupta informed that with the E Way bill norm rolled out the transporters expected an end to harassment by police and tax officers but it is happening otherwise.

“The inspectors can stop the shipment at any time just for inspection, making it difficult for the shipments to move, in a way reinstating inspector raj”, he said.

Lamenting further, he said that when the e way bill is to bring in transparency and in case any discrepancy is found that tax officer should catch hold of consignee/consigner whoever is responsible.

“There is clear details of consignee/consigner on the bill, in case they are cheating on tax, the government should arrest them and not the transporter, we should simply be asked to off-load, and that’s it”, he said.

With regard to the check posts being reduced under the new mechanism, he said significant work has been done, but there is a need to address other larger concerns of transporters in order to facilitate easy and smooth movement of goods in the country.

E Way Bill is an electronically generated document required to be generated for the movement of goods of value more than Rs 50,000 between states. (KNN/DA)