(ET)
The decision by Indian motor-fuel companies to revise prices everyday wouldn’t financially hurt retailers, state-run Hindustan Petroleum said Monday, seeking to address concerns that the move would inflate administrative costs for the dealers.
Executives at state-run oil companies plan to meet petrol pump dealers Tuesday to explain the benefits of daily price revision. Dealers are protesting the decision to daily revise the prices of petrol and diesel from June 16, arguing that filling stations would incur additional costs in implementing the changes, and such frequent price fluctuations could dent their profit.
At present, companies change prices fortnightly across the country, aligning them with international rates and factoring in currency fluctuations. “The daily price mechanism is no doubt a challenge to them, since a number of dealers of petrol pumps that are not automated are still manually changing the prices in the dispensing units units whenever required. Efforts are on to bring all such petrol pumps under automation,” HPCL said.
