Petrol pumps in Bengaluru will remain shut on all Sundays starting from May 14 and from May 15, these filling stations plan to operate in shifts between 9am and 6am.
The All India Petroleum Owners’ Association has said that the government has not met the petroleum dealers’ demands and hence the association has decided to shut down on Sundays and work in shifts to make up for the losses they are incurring. The government has time till then to accede to their demands.
On Wednesday, the petrol dealers across the country are going to observe a ‘No Purchase Day’.
“We will not purchase any petrol from manufacturers tomorrow. If petrol pumps run out of fuel, then they will shut down. Around 3,000 petrol pumps in Bengaluru will not work on Sundays and will work in shifts during weekdays.
Petrol pumps are open 24x7. We don’t take offs for festivals and we don’t have the concept of weekly off. Yet we are unable to make profits,” said Ravindrnath, President of Karnataka Petroleum Owners’ Association.
At the All India Petroleum Dealers’ Association meet held in New Delhi on May 6, the members had unanimously decided not to launch such protests but they later decided to go ahead with them if their demands are not met, a source who was at the meet said.
According to Ravindranath, the dealers are incurring huge losses and are unable to hire workers as they end up getting paid less for the job.
“We have asked the government to increase the profit margin for the dealers. By the time we pay off our operational costs, we barely make any profit at all. Workers at petrol pumps get paid Rs 8,000. Who will work for such less salary? If we have to increase the workers, pay and also make profits, we have to find other ways to do it if the government does not meet our demand,” he added.