Continuing its protest over the Punjab Government’s “indifferent” attitude for not bringing price equality in fuel prices with bordering states by reducing VAT to comparable levels, the State’s Petrol Pump Dealers’ Association (PPDAP) has launched consumer awareness programme.
Under programme, the posters showing the plights of petrol pump dealers, especially in border areas, have been put up at the petrol pumps. “We will continue our protest till our demands are not fulfilled,” said PPDAP president Paramjit Singh Doaba on Sunday.
He said that due to wrong policies, Punjab Government is losing revenue to the neighbouring States. Petrol pumps in Punjab are operating on just 40 per cent of their volumetric capabilities whereas pumps in the border districts are selling just 10 per cent of their total potential, he said.
PPDAP spokesperson Monty Sehgal said that the petrol pumps, located in districts bordering neighbouring states of Punjab and on highways leading to or originating from neighbouring states, are the worst affected.
“Petrol in Punjab is now expensive than all neighbouring States and farmers, the industry and trade are increasingly burdened with higher prices. It is not long before businesses like majority of transporters shift out to neighbouring States for their fuel needs.
It is notable that traffic passing through and originating from Punjab, for both petrol and diesel is giving Punjab a miss, thereby also taking related business and trade across borders,” said Sehgal adding that it is also pertinent to note that farmers and small consumers or the poor mostly own two-wheeler which are petrol driven and they are the most taxed as higher VAT on petrol, results in higher taxes for the poor or the common man.
The growing price difference with neighbouring states, especially Chandigarh over more than a decade, has been hurting our petrol pumps and the recent decrease in VAT by all neighbouring States has sealed our fate, pointed out PPDAP general secretary Manjit Singh.
He said that the not-so-understanding attitude of the Punjab Government would result in further loss of sales to our petrol pumps forcing some to close down and it would also hurt the business sentiment in Punjab and would lead to further reduction of revenue for the Government.
“It is no surprise that Chandigarh UT, which has over the years reduced VAT on both petrol and diesel and despite having a small economy has poached on HSD and MS sales from bordering
State, majority of it from Punjab. Chandigarh has shown a phenomenal growth of 78.1 per cent (80,444 MT) in diesel and 19 per cent (45,157 MT) in petrol in the first half of this financial year (from April 1, 2018, to September 30, 2018) and the figures are likely to rise for Chandigarh as more people from Punjab turn for their fuel needs to neighbouring States,” he said.
“It is not only Chandigarh but also Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana that has started gaining at Punjab’s expense,” rued Singh.