The next week might not be a pleasant one for vehicle owners in Tamil Nadu and some other parts of the country as well. A news report by PTI mentions that a consortium of petroleum dealers has said fuel retail outlets will go on a one-day strike next week. They say that the dealers are facing difficulties due to a constant increase in fuel prices by oil marketing companies and this strike will be to make sure that their demands are met.
M Haider Ali, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Petroleum Dealers Association, a member of the Consortium of Indian Petroleum Dealers' Association (CIPDA) representing fuel retail outlets, said this week that 4,000 pumps in the state and 40,000 petrol pump owners would be on strike countrywide on December 24.
The association is demanding implementation of recommendations by the Apurva Chandra Committee, which has said that there should be a constant revision of commission to petrol pump retailers every six months.
"All the petroleum dealers across the country would "switch-off" the lights in their respective petrol pumps on December 22 and 23," he said.
He rues that while diesel prices have been revised more than 13 times in the past two years, petrol prices have changed only six to seven times. These hikes have not been accompanied by any rise in commission for the owners or the dealers and this is proving costly when it comes to their day-to-day operations. Their only recourse is to strike if no solution is found by next week.
