Petrol pump operators across the country have stopped buying petroleum products, disrupting the fuel supply system.
Hours after the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) increased the fuel prices effective from Thursday midnight, the petrol pumps stopped collecting fuel from the depot citing that the NOC has denied increasing their commission on par with the price rise.
Nepal Petroleum Dealers Association, an association of the petrol pump owners, took a decision to stop collecting the fuel citing that the NOC did not add their commission while increasing the price.
A meeting of the board of directors of the NOC held on Thursday evening had decided to immediately stop the increment of the seller’s commission to cut costs.
The Corporation had decided that the sellers would receive the commission based on the price hiked on February 19.
The NOC has increased the price of petrol, diesel and kerosene by Rs. 5 per litre – each effective from Thursday midnight. After the adjustment of the new price, a litre of petrol now costs Rs. 150, and diesel and kerosene Rs. 133.
As per the NOC decision, the dealers will get the commission based on earlier price, when petrol sold at Rs. 145 per litre.
Spokesperson for NOC Binitmani Upadhyay said that almost all petrol pumps run by the private sector purchased no petroleum products on Friday.
According to the depot price, dealers are getting 3.39 per cent commission on petrol and 3.12 per cent on diesel. Upadhyay said that the petrol pumps were now getting Rs. 5.71 per litre commission on petrol.
“They demand commission on the basis of the latest price increment. Under this, they will get an additional Rs. 0.15 per litre,” he said.
He said that the NOC had decided to reduce the liability of the corporation in this abnormal situation as the price of fuel had been skyrocketing in the market and the Corporation is bearing a huge loss.
The NOC management and Nepal Petroleum Dealers National Association held a discussion about the problems and requested them to purchase and ease the supply of fuel as usual.
“Fuel has not been sold from any of the depots of the Corporation since Friday morning. It will disrupt the fuel supply in the market,” he said.
Despite the obstruction in transportation by private pump operators, the pumps of government-owned institutions and companies have been buying and selling fuel, he said.
He said that the petrol pumps of the Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Sajha have been regularly transporting and selling fuel inside and outside the Kathmandu Valley.
The daily demand of petrol is 2,500 kilolitres (KL) of petrol and 6,000 KL of diesel across the country.
Source : TRN,
