DKUPDA to Observe Bundh on 13 Oct to Implement GST on Petro Products

DKUPDA to Observe Bundh on 13 Oct to Implement GST on Petro Products

DK and Udupi District Petroleum Dealers Association (DKUPDA) to Observe Bundh on 13 Oct to Implement GST on Petro Products.

Mangalorean: Come 13 October, you better fill up your gas tanks with Petrol/Diesel well before 12th Oct midnight, if not you will be landing in big trouble if you run out of petrol or diesel, since the DK and Udupi District Petroleum Dealers Association are observing a One-day protest against the Central Govt. against several issue, one among them being not implementing GST on Petro Products to facilitate One Nation, One Nation., One Nation Rate of Petrol and Diesel.

Addressing the media persons during a press meet held at Mangalore Press Club, Satish N Kamath-the President of DK and Udupi District Petroleum Dealers Association DKUPDA said, ” We need to change and stop the daily price change mechanism, which is not agreed by the petroleum dealers here in Mangaluru and DK/Udupi. The present rule has neither benefited the customers nor the dealers. 80%of the outlets are not automated and over 50% of the automated outlet the equipment does not work. Hence every morning at 6 am every dealer has to be present to change the prices. In spite of the fairly steady rupee and crude prices you may notice that retail prices have gone up substantially since this was introduced in June.”

“We are governed by state labour act, state legal metrology act etc but lately OMC’s have gone beyond their jurisdiction have imposed strictures and penalties which is beyond their scope and our income as per their admission. Hence we want the entire fresh amendments to the MDG (marketing discipline guidelines) be quashed. As petrol and Diesel is decontrolled we want to be outside the scope of essential commodities act as Shell, Essar, Total, Aegis, Reliance who all have petrol pumps but do not come under the scope of any MDG. We object to petrol pump toilets being converted into public toilets as this leads to a very serious security issue as we deal in volatile products like petrol and LPG. We have be provided public liability insurance by the OMC’s as we cannot afford to take a policy on our own as public sector insurance companies do not want to insure us and if they do the premium is exorbitant” added Kamath.

Kamathy further said, ” Private operators like Reliance, Essar and others are not bound to provide toilet facility. But Why? Omc’s claim that they give us 4 ps per litre for toilet maintenance but does not suffice as we do not get staff to do it nor can it pay for even one shift of toilet cleaning. Off late OMC’s have started installing state of the art noise less dispensers which are calibrated through computers by the legal metrology dept.OMC’s are levying penalties on us for erratic delivery of these dispensers when the manufacturers themselves have said that there is a margin of error. OMC’s have refused to listen to our issues hence this agitation for which we once again request your Support to serve the general public better.”

“Oil companies are not making adequate efforts to spread awareness for ethanol blended petrol and demanded rationalization in transport tender. Around 53,500 petrol pumps across the country have been participating in the ongoing protest. It warned that if the demands were not met at the earliest, fuel dealers will be forced to stop, indefinitely, purchase and sale operations from October 27. UPF represents over 54,000 dealers from the Federation of All-India Petroleum Traders, the All-India Petroleum Dealers Association and the Consortium of Indian Petroleum Dealers. The strike is to press for long-pending demands ignored by the state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) since an agreement was signed last November” added Kamath.

Kamath further said, “The demands include upward revision of the dealer margins every six months, better terms for return on investment, resolution of manpower issues, a fresh study of handling losses, and resolution of issues related to transportation and ethanol blending. Dealers also want the government to bring petrol and diesel under the GST regime. We are also upset with the marketing discipline guidelines announced by OMCs, which seek to penalize dealers for shortcomings up to Rs. 2 lakh under a zero-tolerance policy towards shortchanging of customers. Fuel dealers are also opposed to the daily price mechanism introduced from July 1, saying it has benefited neither the consumers nor the dealers. We also against, citing safety concerns, a proposal of the government to allow home delivery of oil products.”

Muralidhar Prabhu, Padmanabh Pai, Rohith Kanchan were among others of the Association present during the pressmeet.