NEW DELHI: The Petrol Pump Dealers Association, an organization of petrol pump owners in the country, will protest tomorrow (May 31) and will not purchase fuel from oil companies. Around 70,000 petrol pumps spread across 24 states across the country are part of the organization. Therefore, the country is likely to experience a fuel shortage on Tuesday.
The pump owners said the protests are due to the companies' unwillingness to revise the commission to petrol pump dealers despite rise in fuel prices. The petrol dealers have also sought reimbursement of their losses on account of the recent reduction of excise duty on petrol and diesel.
The pump owners allege that at a government-mediated meeting five years ago, the companies agreed to revise the dealer commission every six months, but they refused to comply. At present the dealers' commission is only two percent and the dealers want it to be increased to at least five percent.
“The prices of fuel have almost doubled since 2017, hence the working capital in business has doubled leading to additional loans & bank interests thereupon. Evaporation losses have increased proportionately. Also, the overhead expenses like bank charges, electricity bills, salaries etc have increased manifold during the last 5 years. Our constant demand to revise dealer commission has been overlooked by the OMCs. By doing so OMCs are making its own network financially unviable," the dealer assiocation said in a statement.
