Gurgaon: Brace for fuel shortage from Friday as pump owners go on ‘no purchase’ strike

More than 2,800 petrol pumps in Haryana, including 135 in Gurgaon, will take part in the strike.

Vehicle owners in the city may be in for some inconvenience as petrol pump owners have decided to go on a two-day ‘no purchase’ strike from Friday.

Fuel is daily supplied to pumps and a two-day no purchase strike means that there will be a shortage of fuel. (HT FILE PHOTO)

This means that pump owners will not purchase fuel from oil companies and once their existing stocks are exhausted, consumers will be left in the lurch.

All Haryana Petrol Pump Dealers Association announced on Thursday that the pumps owners across Haryana will not purchase fuel from companies in protest against the system of daily pricing of petrol and diesel.

More than 2,800 petrol pumps in Haryana, including 135 in Gurgaon, will take part in the strike.

The state-run oil companies Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited decided earlier this month to revise petrol and diesel prices every day to be in sync with international rates, starting June 16.

Companies decided this after trying the model in the five cities of Jamshedpur, Puducherry, Chandigarh, Visakhapatnam and Udaipur.

“We are suffering losses every day and government is ignoring it. Apart from the hassle of daily changing the automation of dispensing machines to incorporate the new rates, the new system will also cause us a financial loss. This is a two-day token strike but if companies do not review their decision even after 15 days, we will hold a meeting and go on an indefinite strike,” said Dinesh Goyal, president of All Haryana Petrol Pump Dealers Association.

Goyal said petrol pumps owners are already not earning much as companies have stopped paying them commissions and taxes are on the higher side. “If we can’t even survive, then what will we do by running pumps?” he said.

He said the prices should be fixed and whatever fluctuations happen in international prices – be it a loss or a gain– it should be borne by the oil companies.

Manish Yadav, president, Gurgaon petrol pump dealers’ association, said pumps owners in Gurgaon will also join the strike.

“Fuel is daily supplied to pumps and a two-day no purchase strike means that there will be a shortage of fuel,” Yadav said.

Petrol pumps get fuel supply in the morning and evening. The evening supply caters to consumers till the next day afternoon. This means the pumps will start running dry from Friday afternoon.