Transporters defer strike in evening, but Kolhapur commuters struggle through day; no major impact in Nashik & Sambhajinagar

Kolhapur/Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar/Nashik: The Maharashtra Transport Action Committee on Thursday evening deferred its indefinite strike by a week against alleged misuse of the e-challan system and arbitrary penalties after receiving assurance from govt.Prasanna Patwardhan, president of the Bus and Car Owners Confederation of India and a senior member of the Maharashtra Transport Action Committee, told TOI, "Deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde contacted and requested us to give a week's time as the assembly session was under way. We have agreed to wait for a week."Earlier in the day, however, many Kolhapur residents travelling to Pune, Mumbai, Solapur and farther destinations like Bengaluru and Panaji found themselves stranded amid the strike. In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Nashik, the impact largely remained limited.For Mohit Shinde, a decoration artist from Kolhapur, the disruption came at the worst possible moment. With a last-minute assignment in Solapur, he rushed to the bus stop, only to find it deserted. "When I reached the bus stop, I realised every bus was off the road. I had to call a friend to drop me to the Central Bus Stand. Even there, with all the event material, I waited for an hour," Shinde said, visibly stressed. "Had I reached a little earlier, I was told two buses had already left. Now I might be late for work."A large group of private bus operators marched in protest to the RTO office in Kolhapur, demanding the withdrawal of the e-challan system, which sends penalty notices directly to operators' phones, often for alleged violations they say they did not commit. "The rule forces us to pay 50% of the fine upfront just to challenge it in court," Satishchandra Kamble, president of the Kolhapur Luxury Buses Association, said. "If the fine isn't paid within 45 days, RTO can seize the vehicle without giving us a fair chance to appeal. Our buses don't have permanent parking spots. Even temporary parking gets us fined. We serve the public because the state transport can't cover everyone. Yet instead of support, we face penalties," he said.Even lorry operators alleged selective strictness. "The e-challan system is being implemented harshly only in Maharashtra," Prakash Kesarkar of the Kolhapur Lorry Association, said. "RTOs don't have proper equipment to measure speed, yet fines go up to Rs 2,000 for minor speed variations," he said. Goods supply remained largely unaffected, traders said. Fayyaz Khan, president of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district transporters' association, said over 3,000 trucks and other heavy vehicles continued to operate normally. Autorickshaw unions in Sambhajinagar also did not participate in the strike. Nisar Ahmed Khan, a prominent leader of autorickshaw drivers in the city, said, "We support the demand for reforms in the e-challan system and a reduction in various taxes."According to private bus operator Mubeen Khan, services of private buses across different routes in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar operated as usual on Thursday. A senior official from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar RTO said, "The volume of e-challans is higher in major metros due to greater traffic density. There was no protest by any association outside our office," the official said.In Nashik, a large number of travel bus owners affiliated with the Bus Owners and Operators Sanghatna, Nashik Jilha Pravasi Vahtukdar Sanghatna, along with truck operators under the banner of the Nashik District Transport Association, participated in the strike. The transport operators assembled in Tapovan."We have submitted our memorandum to the Nashik collector, the regional transport officer and the commissioner of police, seeking govt intervention," Kailas Tate, secretary of the Bus Owners and Operators Sanghatana, said, adding, "We did not suspend bus services today (Thursday) and restricted our agitation to demonstrations."