LAHORE, July 1: Transporters went on strike Tuesday to protest against the City District Government’s decision to impose the Road User Charge on the owners of vehicles entering the city.

Thousands of passengers reaching the Badami Bagh General Bus Stand for travel to other cities and towns had to return home because of the strike. Passengers arriving in the provincial metropolis for onward journey were stranded at the bus-stand.

Transporters said they were not ready to pay the charge because they were already paying toll on Ravi Bridge before entering the provincial metropolis. Moreover, the buses plying on inter-city routes were using highways that were being maintained by the provincial government and not the CDG.

They said that the CDG was already charging every bus leaving the provincial metropolis bus-stand fee equivalent to the fare for one passenger. There was no justification for extorting the Road User Charge from transporters who were already paying much more in the form of bus-stand fee, they added.