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Diesel price hits a century in Mohali
Mohali’s petrol and diesel rates are the highest in the tricity. Fuel station owners say that due to the disparity in fuel rates in the tricity, they have lost about 70% of our business.
In a first, diesel rates in Mohali crossed the ₹100-mark on Thursday, leaving residents and filling station owners fuming.
What’s adding to their anger is the fact that Mohali’s petrol and diesel rates are the highest in the tricity. While diesel was available for ₹100.18 per litre in Mohali on Thursday, it cost ₹96.73 per litre in Chandigarh and ₹97 per litre in Panchkula.
The rate of petrol in Mohali was ₹110.34 per litre while in Chandigarh, it cost ₹104.22 per litre and in Panchkula, it was ₹105 per litre.
Citing the increasing cost of fuel and the difference in prices between Punjab and its adjoining states, Petrol Pump Dealers’ Association, Punjab, (PPDAP) had on October 22 announced that it would open petrol pumps only for a single shift for 15 days from November 7.
Mohali district petroleum dealers’ association president Ashwinder Singh Mongia said: “Due to the disparity in fuel rates in the tricity, we have lost about 70% of our business. All dealers in Mohali whose pumps are located on the border with Chandigarh have been badly hit. When authorities can bring parity in liquor rates, why not in fuel rates?”
What makes fuel so expensive in Mohali is the high rate of taxation in Punjab. The effective value added tax (VAT), including cess, on petrol in Mohali is 31.17%, while in Panchkula, it is 26.25%. In Chandigarh, VAT is 22.45% and there is no additional cess. On diesel, VAT in the three districts is 19.56% , 17.23% and 14.03%, respectively.
Such high rates have hit the sales in Mohali drastically. According to figures available with the dealers association, diesel sales have dropped by 70% from 10,000 litres per pump per day in August 2017 to 3,000 litres in September this year.
Gopal Krishan, an old car dealer in Mohali, said, “Since the rates of both petrol and diesel are at an all-time high in Mohali, we have been going to Chandigarh to fuel up our vehicles. But the authorities concerned should bring parity in the fuel rates across tricity.”
Last year, a businessman who owned three petrol pumps in Mohali had ended his life, citing huge losses being suffered due to the substantial difference in fuel rates. In a letter to the Punjab governor, he had stated that non-revision of VAT in Chandigarh had robbed him of 80% of his business as his pumps were situated on the border.
The dealers are also resentful of Chandigarh pumps for putting up hoardings to advertise the cheaper rates. Stating that such boards are illegal, they question why the UT administration has not acted against them.
