Petrol pump owners are planning to go on a strike beginning June 16 against the daily price revision. Introduced as a pilot project in five cities including Chandigarh, Jamshedpur, Pondicherry, Vishakhapatnam and Udaipur, the project is supposed to be implemented on a country-wide basis beginning June 16.
Now, fuel pump owners have threatened not to purchase any fuel starting from June 16 if the fuel pumps are not automated. The pump owners want the system to be automated so that the prices do not have to be changed manually on a daily basis, which is a lengthy and time consuming process. If the prices have to be changed manually, it will take a few hours which will indirectly affect the consumers.
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Currently, fuel prices are revised on a fortnightly basis based on the USD-INR exchange rates as well as the international crude oil prices. Once the daily price revision comes into effect, the reflective price will be passed on to the customer.
Last week, Indian Oil Corporation, one of the country’s largest oil companies, issued a statement, saying “Daily price revisions of petrol and diesel will make the retail prices more reflective of the current market conditions, minimizing the volatility in the retail selling price. Further, it will lead to increased transparency in the system. This will also enable smoother flow of products from refinery and depots to retail outlets.”