PANJIM: Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar on Tuesday directed the Public Works Department (PWD) to scrap the notification on levying entry fees on Goan commercial vehicles along with three neighbouring districts.
“The file of entry tax was received by me on Monday evening. On Tuesday morning I sent the file back to PWD with my remark directing to scrap the notification,” the chief minister said.
Last week the chief minister had said that the notification would be withdrawn within a week. Clearing doubts that vehicles registered in the neighboring districts of Karwar, Belgaum and Sindhudurg would have to pay the entry fee, the chief minister said that these districts will also be exempted once the notification was scrapped.
On May 14, the Public Works Department had issued a notification that levied an entry fee on commercial vehicles registered in Goa and the state’s neighbouring districts. This had attracted much resistance from transporters after PWD, with police protection, commenced charging fees on June 1, at toll booths on the border.
The chief minister was forced to intervene and within hours the notification was kept in abeyance on his oral instructions. Parsekar was shocked by PWD’s attempt to levy the fee as he was in the dark over the issue.
