Panipat: Petroleum dealers seek hike in commission

Panipat, January 18

Members of the Petroleum Dealers Welfare Association (PDWA) protested at the state- level coordinator (SLC) office of the IOCL Refinery today for not increasing the dealer’s commission for the past seven years.

The association submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister through IOCL officials and also warned that if their commission was not increased they would be forced to take stern steps. The members from all across the state participated in the protest at the SLC office and staged dharna for an hour there. Sanjeev Chaudhary, state president, PDWA, said the revision of the dealer’s commission was pending for the past seven years. They had given several representations to the oil marketing companies (OMCs) to increase the dealer’s margin but no one heeded to their genuine demand.

“Our margin revision recommendations as proposed by the Apoorva Chandra Committee, constituted by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, are being withheld by the OMCs,” he said.

The dealers’ margins were to be revised twice in January and July of each year but for the past seven years these were not revised due to financial hardships and escalating expenses that made it difficult for the majority of dealers to survive, he added.

Post the COVID-19 pandemic, the inflation and rising operating expenses have further exacerbated the financial situations of the dealers. The retail prices of petrol and diesel have risen to almost double since 2016 but the dealer’s margin has not been increased, Chaudhary claimed.

The PDWA demanded an increase of the dealer’s margin by Rs 4 per litre with immediate effect.