Pune, 29th July 2023: The President and working committee members of the Petrol Dealers Association Pune convened a crucial meeting with Member of Parliament, Shrirang Appa Barne, to address their growing concerns regarding the long-pending dealer margins of petrol and diesel.
For the past six years, these margins have been awaiting payment from oil companies since 2017, causing significant financial losses for the dealers. Faced with no resolution in sight, the dealers sought an audience with the Member of Parliament to escalate their grievances and seek intervention from the appropriate authorities.
In 2013, the Apurva Chandra Committee had submitted a comprehensive report, advising the Ministry and oil companies to pay the dealers revised margins for petrol and diesel, taking into account the All India Consumer Price Index. As per the committee’s recommendations, the revised margins were to be paid every six months. However, since 2017, not a single payment has been made to the dealers, despite clear directives and assurances.
This prolonged lack of payment has resulted in enormous financial burdens for the petrol dealers. Over the past six years, the cost of MS (Motor Spirit) and HSD (High-Speed Diesel) has steadily increased, along with other operational expenses such as electricity, bank interest rates, and various trade-related costs. Despite these escalating expenses, the dealers’ margins have remained stagnant since 2017, creating an unsustainable situation for them.
The meeting with MP Shrirang Appa Barne was aimed at highlighting the dire circumstances faced by the petrol dealers and seeking his support to expedite the payment of the pending margins from the concerned authorities.
Various representatives, including Shivraj Shitole, Sonu Nagpal, Kalidas More, Dhananjay Shitole, Kaka Zambare, President Dhruv Ruparel, Bhushan Desai, Sandeep Sakhare, Sujata Shah, Amar Renuse, and Aba Walhekar, were present at the meeting to articulate their concerns and seek a resolution to this pressing issue.
