Fuel stations ran dry and wholesale vegetable markets received a fraction of the commodities they usually do as several parts of the country were on Tuesday hit by the second day of a three-day strike by truck drivers protesting harsher new penalties for hit-and-run offences in the new crime code.

The Union government opened talks with association leaders, with the home ministry issuing appeals for the truck drivers to return to work after promising detailed discussions will be held before the new stringent new legal provisions take effect.

After a meeting with home secretary Ajay Bhalla, representatives of the All India Motor Transport Congress — one of the unions representing truck drivers — said discussions were successful and the new punishments will not be invoked until the next meeting, reiterating the government’s call for truck drivers to resume duty. To be sure, the strike was not called by AIMTC but by smaller unions at the state level that have links to it.

“We had a discussion with All India Motor Transport Congress representatives, the government wants to say that the new rule has not been implemented yet. Before implementing Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 106/2, we will have a discussion with All India Motor Transport Congress representatives and then only we will take a decision,” said Bhalla.

Throughout Tuesday, there was panic buying of fuel in at least eight states — Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh — and authorities in at least three of these issued directions to fuel retailers to limit the amount a single person can buy.

The protests led to blockades on major highways, including the Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Mumbai-Bengaluru, Bhopal-Gwalior, Delhi-Karnal and Satna-Bhopal links.

At the heart of the issue are new sections in BNS that lay down a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine of up to ₹7 lakh if a driver is convicted in a hit-and-run accident. In the erstwhile Indian Penal Code, this was up to a maximum of two years and an unspecified amount as fine.

“Drivers consider the law one-sided and harsh. In case of an accident, if we stay, an angry mob could damage the life and property. And, if we run, we would be subjected to harsh punishment,” a driver of an oil tanker said, asking not to be named.

Among the hardest hit regions were Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, where truck drivers blocked highways and their actions depleted reserves at fuel stations.

The situation was also concerning in hill states. Deputy commissioners of Shimla and Mandi districts issued orders on Tuesday for rationing fuel with a maximum of 10 litres allowed per vehicle.

Similar orders were issued in MP’s Satna and Sagar districts. In Rajasthan, officials said that they will have to issue fuel rationing orders if the strike is not called off by Wednesday with most fuel stations reporting low stock.

The chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh reviewed the situation with officials and told them to ensure supply of essential goods is not affected. “District officials would be held responsible for any inconvenience to people because of disruption of essentials and any law and order situation,” Chhattisgarh chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai told officers in Raipur in Tuesday.

Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu issued instructions to provide police protection to oil tankers supplying fuel and urged the central government to resolve the issue at the earliest.

In Uttar Pradesh, petrol pump dealers said stocks were likely to run out by Wednesday in several cities due to the panic-buying. “Everyone wants a full tank while the petrol pumps’ storage tanks were reporting fast depletion of stocks without any sign of replenishment of supply as the fuel tankers are not coming in due to the strike. All pumps will either exhaust their stocks by today (Tuesday) evening or by tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon,” said the president of Lucknow petrol-diesel dealers’ association and vice president of UP petrol dealers’ association, Dayashankar Singh.

There was some violence linked to the agitation in Rajasthan on Monday night when a mob burnt a police vehicle and pelted stones at security personnel, leaving three injured in Kekri district.

The opposition Congress, meanwhile, came out in support of the truckers’ protest, saying the misuse of the legislation can lead to an “extortionist network” and “organised corruption”. “The insistence on making laws without discussion with the affected class and without dialogue with the opposition is a continuous attack on the soul of democracy. While more than 150 MPs were suspended, Shahenshah (emperor) in Parliament enacted a law against drivers, the backbone of the Indian economy, which could have fatal consequences,” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet.

While prices of commonly consumed food articles were unaffected on Tuesday, supply chain intermediaries said if truckers continued preventing movement of interstate goods, shortages could stoke prices.

“There are no arrivals from other states…The arrivals are just 30% of the normal,” said Sunil Wagchore, a vegetable trader in Mumbai. Ramesh Yadav, a retailer from Vashi, added: “We will be completely out of stock on Wednesday, and what little remains will sell at a higher price. In fact, the market could be affected by night itself.”

An interministerial committee on inflation management is monitoring the situation and steps were being taken to augments supplies of essential goods and staples, such as pulses and wheat, under the state-owned subsidised Bharat brand, an official in the agriculture ministry said, asking not to be named.

There was also an impact on delivery of online products. Some e-commerce sites on Tuesday sent delay messages to consumers, linking them to the truckers’ strike.

The biggest concern at the moment, however, related to fuel supplies. Oil tankers meant to carry fuel from depots of refiners in many places are stranded because either the drivers were participating in the strike or because they feared reprisal from protestors, a Maharashtra-based pump dealer said, asking not to be named.

The owner of a fuel station on the Delhi-Meerut highway said many pumps in the area are dry because tankers did not arrive with replenishments.

According to transporters, the agitation was a spontaneous campaign started by some “overenthusiastic drivers”, which was fanned further through messages circulated among them on social media, news agency PTI reported. No truckers’ body has officially declared any strike, they said.

But the agitation also extended to buses in many parts of the country. Passengers were seen stranded at the Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT) in state capital Bhopal as drivers did not operate the intercity buses on Tuesday morning.

In the southern part of the country, the impact appeared limited to Telangana with some parts of Hyderabad reporting fuel stations running dry.