The Bottomline

Ashish Bhatia

On a recent drive, I pulled over for a refuel. At 107.83 a litre in suburban Mumbai, 9.27 litres of petrol set me back by Rs.1000. It was a one-off, journey within city limits and so I waved my card at the Point of Sale (PoS), took back my keys and settled on the driver’s seat without breaking into a sweat. I rolled up the windows to avoid the drizzle and shut the door close. On turning the ignition on, I was surprised to see the visual indication of the activity in the fuel tank. At a city mileage of 10 kmpl, I expected to see the trip fuel bump up to 90 Kms. To my shock, it read just 50 Kms. Having serviced my car recently, it was easy for me to get back to the pump dealer for a check. On checking the fuel dispensing accuracy at the pump, I was able to prove my point and avoid the negligence by getting the staff to own up. However, for you the stakeholders of the industry these checks are a minuscule part of your day-to-day operations. The odds of such a fast one being pulled on you are lower, and the odds of you not intercepting it even lower. With the sheer scale of operations and the number of vehicles to keep a tab on, it translates to many more touch points. The operating losses by way of operational expenditures exceeding gross profits either at the filling station or to pilferage, to deductions spanning the toll, taxes, debt servicing, fleet upkeep continue to threaten the bottom line. At a time when milestones have been replaced by such survival goals, the efforts of the CV industry as a whole to maintain business continuity and development while giving back to society at large is praiseworthy. Keep at it!

“THE OPERATING LOSSES BY WAY OF OPERATIONAL EXPENDITURES EXCEEDING GROSS PROFITS CONTINUE TO THREATEN THE BOTTOM LINE.”