Dealers suspect Centre bid to privatise oil PSUs

Hyderabad: Why are the petroleum dealers planning to go on strike across the country? Is the Union government responsible for the losses being suffered by the dealers?

Well, this is what the general impression the petroleum dealers have. They feel that the Union government wants to convert all public sector outlets like HP, BP and IOC into loss-making units and handover the entire trade to the private sector.

“The Centre had increased dealer commission for the LPG gas suppliers four times in the last 7 years, whereas there has been no hike for the filling stations during the corresponding period,” the Telangana Petroleum Dealers Association lamented.

The association leaders say that if the Centre does not change its attitude, their fraternity across the country would influence the election outcome. The NDA aims at 400 plus seats and the support of this section also matters, they add.

The dealers said, “Once, the petroleum dealership was a profit-making business and people used to vie for the dealership. Getting a dealership for a fuel-filling station from the PSUs like HP (Hindustan Petroleum) BP (Bharat Petroleum) and IOC (Indian Oil Corporation) used to be a status symbol in society, they said.

“Today, the decisions being taken by both the Centre and the oil companies are against the interests of the filling station dealers and are causing deep financial trouble,” IOC state association leader Suresh said, adding that the filling station maintenance and payment of salaries to the staff have become a big burden on the retail fuel agents due to non-increase in dealer commission for the last 7 years.

“The oil companies were imposing unviable rules and regulations to run the petroleum outlets. The companies introduced Market Guidelines (MDGs) which are not friendly to the retailers to earn even minimum profits. We are not aware of the game plan of the oil companies for not increasing dealers’ commissions for years. But we are struggling hard to survive in the market even after investing more than Rs 1.5 crore in setting up each outlet,” they said

The association leaders said the oil companies were harassing the dealers by not accepting their demands. On the other hand, they are putting more pressure in the form of conducting regular visits to the stations and insisting on the market guidelines such as payment of wages as recommended by the companies. The general practice is to pay wages as per the state wage board recommendations.

Following the insistence of the oil companies, some dealers’ associations in other states approached the Supreme Court on the “impractical guidelines” of the oil companies. Though the matter is still pending in the apex court, they alleged that the oil companies were harassing them to implement their recommendations.

Suresh said their association has also appealed to the Election Commission for permission to take up dharnas and have petitioned the Ministry of Petroleum to address their demands to increase the commission. The dealers’ association fraternity, they said, has a vote bank of 1.50 crore voters in the country. The Union government should keep this in mind as it could impact the poll results, they said.