A section of petroleum dealers in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra have planned to shut their retail outlets every Sunday starting May 14.
According to a Business Standard report, the Consortium of Indian Petroleum Dealers (CIPD) asked members to shut shop on Sundays. If it goes through, it would mean 25,000 petrol pumps would remain shut every Sunday.
They have also said that filling stations will operate from 9 am to 6 pm to cut costs.
CIPD president A D Sathyanarayan told BS that they will only make exceptions for emergency services like ambulance.
The committee says that dealers should be getting Rs 3,333 per kilolitre on petrol and Rs 2,126 per kilolitre on diesel. "We are currently getting Rs 2,570 and Rs 1,620 for petrol and diesel respectively," Ravi Shinde, general secretary of CIPD told NDTV Profit.
However, not all petrol pumps will be shut. Ajay Bansal, president of All India Petroleum Dealers' Association, clarified that this was not going to have a countrywide impact as the CIPD had presence in just a few states.
"This will create panic. The association that has called for such a move has presence in only Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra. We are not supporting this decision," he told Business Standard.
On May 10, petrol pump owners have decided to hold a 'No Purchase Day', when they won't purchase petrol and diesel for a day. The idea of remaining closed will only happen if their demand of higher margin is not agreed upon by the government, reports Economic Times.
"The decision would be applicable after May 10 unless the government intervenes. The resolution has been taken as the oil companies have not released the dealer margins since 2011," Ravi Shinde from the Petrol Dealers' Association told ET.
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