The petrol prices in the City have gone up by almost Rs 1.15 paise per litre in less than two months post decontrol of fuel prices in the country. The latest hike is on November 2, courtesy, hike in freight charges by the Railways.
Once vehicle users were left to the mercy of market forces, petrol prices had shot up by almost 80 paise per litre in the first month. The petrol price has now reached Rs 59.30. The oil marketing companies (OMC) review the price every fortnight.
According to sources in the OMCs, the first hike in petrol prices was effected on September 7, costing petrol Rs 58.18. Further on October 2 the rates were revised upward to Rs 58.50. A revision on October 17 took the price to Rs 59.26 and to be followed by another on November 2. The petrol now costs Rs 59.30 per litre.
The HPCL’s 'Speed', saw an increase of Rs 1.15 since September 7. The price of special petrol on September 7 was Rs 60.70, which went up to Rs 61.85 paise on October 16. There was no change in the price, however, during the November 2 revision. "The Railways have increased freight charges, compelling the oil majors to increase the petrol and diesel prices by four paise," said B R Ravindranath, President, Bangalore Petroleum Dealers' Association. He added that Railways keep revising its freight charges from time to time.
Tilted tax slab
A much-debated issue is the taxes levied by the state government, which makes fuel prices in Karnataka highest in the country. The government gets 30 per cent of the money one pays at petrol stations. Representations by the Petroleum Dealers' Association to rationalise the tax slab went in vain.
The CPI (M) state secretariat member G N Nagaraj said that after the decontrol of petrol prices, the Union and the State governments were citing variations in the international market as an excuse to hike the petrol prices in the country. The fuel price hike in the country, he said, is much higher than the increase in the international market.
The Union government, citing hike of 2.5 per cent in international prices, effected increase in the petrol prices by 7.5 per cent, he pointed out. He said the revenue from fuel account stood at Rs 80,000 crore till June 25 (before decontrol) and shot up to Rs 1.2 lakh crore after decontrol. After the recent hike on October 17, the revenue went up by another Rs 8,000 crore.
However, many vehicle users are unaware of this ‘surreptitious’ northward movement of petrol prices.
