Fuel pumps will remain closed on Sundays in 8 states of the country effective May 14, 2017. The consortium of Indian petroleum dealers has taken this decision in tandem with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to preserve the environment and conserve oil during the recent ‘Mann ki baat’ programme. While the decision has invoked chaos, here is a blow by blow account of the changes and impacts, read on to know more.
What all states come under this?
The consortium of Indian petroleum dealers has decided to keep fuel pumps shut on Sundays in the following eight States-Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Haryana. This will cover one state from North, one state from west-central region and the entire Southern region. With this, around 20,000 accrued number of fuel pump outlets will remain closed for 24 hours on Sundays from May 14, 2017 in the aforementioned states.
What will happen in case of emergency?
Usually, there are around 15 staff members at the fuel pumps who assist customers. However, on Sundays following May 14, 2017, there will be just one staff member for providing fuel in case of an emergency.
What are the impacts?
With the fuel bunks shut on Sundays, there could be a heavy loss in business estimated at Rs 150 crore in Tamil Nadu alone. These figures will further shot-up if we take all the states into account. On the contrary, there has been a drop in sales by 40% on Sundays.
Will the OMCs hike the margins to petroleum outlets?
The OMCs have not been informed about the same yet, but the decision will be communicated to them shortly by the association. There is yet no clarity if OMCs will hike the margins to petroleum outlets, however both OMCs and the association will reach to a decision jointly and an official announcement will be made soon.
