Around 500 tipper owners hold a meeting at the laxmi Puja ground here on Friday to highlight their problems and plan their future course of action in this regard.
The tipper owners receive payment on contract basis from the transporters engaged by factory owners to transport iron ores from mines to factories. They complained that they are getting Rs 232 per tonne for carrying iron ore from the Khandabandh Mines to the Tata Sponge for a distance of 28 km which is very less in comparison to the total cost incurred by them for each trip.
They demanded that concerned authorities intervene into the matter; else, they would be compelled to surrender their tippers to the Government to create an economic crisis in the mining area. They also demanded hike in freight rate.
“There is also delay in payment by the transporters for which we are bound to discount the Challan at Rs 150 less,” said a tipper owner.
Samalei Tranporting Agency owner Sushant Barik said, “We are making payment as per the rate fixed by the Government and the tipper owners are receiving the payment after signing bill. So there is no proof of any discount.”
Tipper owners like Ajaya Sinha, Md Soyeb Khan, Md Okil, Pradip Giri, Narendra Mahanta and Bharat Barik were present.