Petrol pumps to continue running from 9am to 5pm

Several motorists had to leave without getting fuel for their vehicles on Monday evening after a majority of petrol pumps in the city shut down post-5pm.

Several motorists had to leave without getting fuel for their vehicles on Monday evening after a majority of petrol pumps in the city shut down post-5pm.

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Confederation of Indian Petroleum Dealers (CIPD), the national body of petroleum dealers, has announced a single-shift operation, from 9am to 5pm. They are demanding the implementation of the Apurva Chandra committee recommendation that will give them increased commission.

More than 150 out of 256 petrol pumps spread across the city shut down after 5pm, and are likely to do it on Tuesday as well. “The agitation has been extremely successful. We now want to see how oil companies respond to this,” said Ravi Shinde, general secretary, CIPD, adding that talks with the companies did not yield any result on Monday,

If the recommendations are implemented, a dealer’s commission will increase from approximately Rs1.60 to Rs2.11 in petrol and Rs0.92 to Rs1.31 in diesel. “Compared to petrol price, our commission is very minor,” said Chetan Modi, secretary, Bombay Petrol Dealers Association.

Oil companies said they were making all efforts to resolve the problem. “Out of our 48 outlets, 29 are participating in the protest. Three company owned, company operated and 16 other pumps are working,” said the spokesperson from Indian Oil Corporation.