By IANS,
Lucknow : Diesel dealers in Uttar Pradesh will stop business from Monday if the state government did not withdraw the 5 percent entry tax imposed on the commodity in September, the dealers’ body warned.
The government imposed an entry tax ranging between Rs.1.81 and Rs.1.90 per litre of diesel, depending on its quality, with effect from Sep 30.
Dealers say they cannot afford to pay the tax, claiming it was way beyond their profit margin.
“Our profit on one litre of diesel is only 60 paise and if we pay the increased tax, we will be left with no other option but to stop business,” Uttar Pradesh Petroleum Association president B.N. Shukla said late Saturday.
At present, there are nearly 4,000 diesel outlets in the state. Since the new entry tax was imposed, the tax liability of every dealer has touched nearly Rs.350,000, Shukla said.
As a mark of protest, a bulk of dealers across the state stopped stocking supplies and kept their outlets closed since Saturday.
“This will not affect the sale of petrol, but stopping the sale of diesel will hit every class of people,” Shukla said.
“We made a number of representations to the government and the three oil marketing companies (Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum), but have received no relief till date,” he added.
The government should take a positive step in the next 24 hours so that a crisis can be averted, Shukla said.