Petroleum dealers to close outlets on Oct 13

The United Petroleum Front (UPF) comprising Federation of All India Petroleum Traders (FAIPT), The All India Petroleum Dealers Association (AIPDA) and Consortium of Indian Petroleum Dealers (CIPD) have decided to close petroleum outlets on October 13 as their long-pending grievances from the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs)  — IOCL, BPCL & HPCL remained unsolved for a long time.

Talking to mediapersons here on Monday, Telangana Petroleum Dealers Association president Rajiv Amaram and general secretary Vinod Vishwanath said as their trade issues and long-pending grievances remain unresolved with the OMCs being reluctant to settle them so far, the petroleum dealers have resolved to go on indefinite closure of their outlets in the absence of getting any relief from the OMCs.  However, some of the States felt that due to the Diwali festivities, the motoring public would be inconvenienced, it was resolved to maintain a one-day closure on October 13, followed by an indefinite closure of purchase and sales from October 27



till the trade anomalies are resolved.

They said the OMCs executed an agreement with Dealer Federations on November 4 last  to resolve dealer issues and demands which include revision on Return Of Investment, revision of dealer Margin every six months, revised Man Power Requirement, fresh study on Petroleum Product Handling Lasses, Product Transportation issues, Ethanol Blending without proper equipments and others, all of which continue to remain neglected.

They said the “Zero Tolerance Policy” adopted by the OMCs is a welcome sign provided the same applies to the depots of the OMCs which supply fuel to the retail outlets.  The policy needs to be reconsidered to benefit all. The proposed “Home Delivery” is riddled with safety issues which could lead to serious mishaps and hence should be reconsidered. The petroleum products should be brought under GST so that our long pending demand of “One Nation One Rate” cam be fulfilled to benefit the consumers.