ISLAMABAD, July 11: The government plans to introduce a package to attract foreign investors to the road transport sector and restrict overloading of vehicles. The cabinet last week approved a law regarding load control to prevent damage to the road network. Overloading was causing loss of over Rs250 billion annually to the economy and inefficiency in road maintenance was expected to cost over Rs450 billion during the next five years, sources said.

Annual toll collection from national highways is about Rs3.5 billion.

The cabinet had asked the communications ministry to submit a detailed package for road infrastructure and related legislation, the sources said.

The plans envisage enforcement of load restrictions for trucks.

A fine of Rs1,0000 would be imposed on freight carriers with up to five per cent overloading, Rs2,500 for up to 10 per cent and Rs5,000 for up to 15 per cent overloading. Vehicles with overloading of more than 15 per cent will be impounded.

A fine of Rs1,000 per ton of excess load will be imposed on goods forwarding agencies and factories. Licences of goods forwarding agencies would be cancelled on third violation.

Currently, a fine of Rs100 is imposed for overloading.

The sources said the government was considering to withdraw for three years all duties on import of four-axle trucks in CBU condition and to restructure duties on import of new multi-axle freight carriers to encourage replacement of aging two-axle trucks and overcome shortfall of freight vehicles.

A National Road Transport Act would be introduced on the basis of a recent study completed by the World Bank under the National Highway Improvement Programme.

The government would also approve the creation of the Pakistan Professional Transport Operators Association, which would get membership in the International Road Union, to facilitate self-regulation and international acceptability for truck traffic originating from Pakistan, the sources said.

A committee was being constituted to review the Convention of the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods and the Tour International Reache Convention, which was required for future international transit trade with Afghanistan, the Central Asian republics and China, they said.

International companies would be granted concession to attract foreign investment in the truck manufacturing sector and to enhance the capacity of existing manufacturers, they said. The existing 151,000 freight vehicles carry 95 per cent of the country’s freight traffic and are overloaded to the extent of 70 per cent.

The provincial governments will be directed to develop axle overload control regimes.

The sources said the country’s road and highway infrastructure was stressed by about 67 per cent excess tonnage, which could only be mitigated through additional transport units.