Petrol pump dealers threaten to remain shut on Sundays
Petrol pump dealers in the country have threatened to remain shut on Sundays, while moving to an eight-hour work schedule on working days from May 10.
The dealers have pressed for increasing their margins to ₹3,333 per kilolitre on petrol and ₹2,126 per kilolitre on diesel. At present, they get ₹2,570 and ₹1,620 for petrol and diesel respectively.
Sources, however, said the government may have to intervene to strike a consensus between oil marketing companies and the dealers.
“This is what the dealers have demanded. It is not a final decision... it is unlikely that such as decision will be finally implemented... the government may intervene or the oil marketing companies will look into the issue,” an industry insider said.
Not only oil marketing companies, but dealers too will incur huge losses running into “thousands of crores” if the move is implemented.
Fuel stations across the country employ roughly 500,000 employees, including 100,000 temporary contractual workers.
The owners said if the margins — cuts the dealers get for each litre of fuel sold — were not increased they would be forced to sack the temporary staff.