Petrol and diesel prices cut by just 1 paisa, IOC says 60 paise reduction a ‘clerical error’

After 16 days of hike, petrol and diesel prices were shown to have been cut by up to 60 paise on the IOC website. It later emerged that the actual price cut was just 1 paise.

Petrol and diesel prices on Wednesday witnessed a drop -- of 1 paisa.

A petrol pump employee serves a customer at a fuel station in Mumbai on Wednesday. (PTI Photo)

The price of petrol on Wednesday is at Rs 78.42 a litre in Delhi, Rs 86.23 in Mumbai while diesel stood at Rs 69.30 a litre in Delhi, Rs 73.78 in Mumbai.

After 16 days of continuous hike, there was cheer on Wednesday morning as the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) website showed that the petrol prices have been cut down by up to 60 paise while diesel price went down by 59 paise. But the joy was short lived as the actual reduction in price was just 1 paisa.

“The reduction was supposed to be 1 paisa but due to a clerical error the price prevalent on May 25 was communicated as today’s price,” PTI quoted a senior official of IOC as saying.

The reduction comes after 16 consecutive price increases since May 14 when fuel retailers ended a 19-day pre-Karnataka poll hiatus to pass on a spike in global oil rates.

In all, petrol price was increased by Rs 3.8 per litre and diesel by Rs 3.38 in that fortnight.

(With inputs from PTI)