Daily fuel rate fixation will worsen transparency: Traders

They feel that it will worsen transparency in fixing price of petrol and fuel as consumers will be kept in the dark about the price. Fuel rate was earlier fixed once in six months. It was then reduced to three months, then once in a month and then on a fortnightly basis. 

“Fixing prices at a periodicity of less than three months will affect the rental business comprising trucks, autorickshaws and taxis. Even when the fuel rate was revised once in two weeks (till July 15), the oil companies announced the revision at least the previous night,” said MR Kumarasamy president of the State Lorry Owners’ Federation – Tamil Nadu (SLOF-TN). 

He said that media, consumers and political parties were in a position to analyse international crude oil barrel price and how it reflected price variation in India.

“We could criticise the government if the price here was high due to high taxation. If the retail price was high, the crude oil prices had come down in the Gulf Countries,” he said and lamented that now none would keep track of the rates as it would be revised every day. 

This according to him will give a free hand to the Union Government and oil companies to keep changing fuel rates as they wished. “It will worsen transparency as we are now paying 47 to 48 per cent as tax on fuel by the State and Union Governments. Henceforth we will not have time to think and calculate them,” he said.

“If the government is so transparent, fuel should have been included in GST, where highest percentage of tax will be only 28 per cent. In that case the benefit will be passed on to the public. Daily fuel rate fixation is deceptive. 

Since it is a national issue we have expressed our concern to the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) and we will take steps in consultation with them,” he added. Truckers’ bodies said that their industry like others is breaking its head on the GST, due to which they are unable to take a decision on the daily fuel rate fixation, though it has badly affected them.