By IANS,
New Delhi : There were long lines outside state-run petrol vends in the city Friday as several hundred fuel stations downed their shutters for a day-long shutdown to protest against the hike in value added tax (VAT) on diesel by the Delhi government.
The hike in VAT from 12.5 to 20 percent in the Delhi government’s budget makes diesel in Delhi more expensive compared to neighbouring areas, thereby driving down sales, the petrol pump owners said.
According to Delhi Petrol Dealers’ Association president Atul Peshwaria, the difference in the fuel price between Delhi and neighbouring areas has led to a substantial loss of business to the vend owners.
“Several petrol pumps have become unviable, with business having gone down by as much as 40 percent,” said Peshwaria.
The petrol pump owners threatened an indefinite strike last month, but withdrew the call within a few hours after assurance that the Delhi government would look into revising the tax.
“The government is not willing to listen to us. That’s why we had to call for a day-long strike, even though we do not want to inconvenience the public,” Peshwaria said.
Besides the 400-odd private pumps, the state-run oil marketing companies also operate around 20 outlets in Delhi.
The state-run outlets remained open – most of which had mile-long queues as taxis, autorickhsaws and private vehicles stood in line on a day when the mercury almost touched the high of 42 degrees Celsius.
“I have been standing in the heat for nearly two hours. They (petrol pump owners) should at least have told us in advance that they are going to strike, then we could have filled up the tank earlier,” said 36-year-old Ram Swarup Sharma, who was sitting in his Maruti 800 car outside the Indian Oil-owned outlet in R.K Puram.