400 petrol pumps to be shut in New Delhi on October 22

Delhi Petrol Dealers Association (DPDA) on Monday said all 400-odd petrol pumps in the national capital will remain closed on October 22 in protest against the Delhi government's refusal to cut VAT on petrol and diesel.

"There are about 400 petrol pumps in Delhi which also have linked CNG pumps with them. Both will remain closed in protest from 6.00 am onwards on October 22 and remain closed till 5.00 am on October 23, 2018," the association said in a statement here.

It said the Union government on October 4 slashed the petrol and diesel price by Rs 2.50 by reducing excise duty and asking state-owned oil firms to bear subsidy. This was matched by several states which reduced local sales tax or VAT.

Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, which border the national capital, have reduced VAT, the association said. "But Delhi government refused to reduce VAT on fuel both petrol and diesel resulting in fuel becoming more expensive than bordering Haryana and Uttar Pradesh." In comparison to Delhi, petrol in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana is cheaper by Rs 2.59 and Rs 1.95 per litre, respectively. Diesel in these two states is cheaper by Rs 2.02 and Rs 1.72 per litre, respectively.

"Because of high price in Delhi and low prices in states like UP and Haryana, customers are deserting the petrol pumps in Delhi leading to huge drop in sales," it said.

Meanwhile, citizens are yet to receive any respite from skyrocketing fuel prices, as the retail rates of petrol and diesel have once again witnessed a hike on Tuesday.In Delhi, petrol is being sold atRs 82.83  per litre after an increase of 11 paise, while diesel rates have escalated to Rs 75.69 per litre after a hike of 23 paise.

Petrol prices in Mumbai are inching closer to the Rs 90 per litre mark, as petrol is retailing 11 paise higher at Rs. 88.29 per litre. The price of diesel, on the other hand, has been revised by 24 paise to retail at Rs 79.35.

Fuel prices have been soaring since the past few months in the country, causing many problems for commuters.

While the Opposition has repeatedly blamed the Centre for the steep hike in the fuel price, the latter has maintained that global crude oil prices and other international factors are responsible for the increase in prices of petroleum products.

In a bid to ease the crunch caused by soaring fuel prices, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced a reduction of Rs 2.50 per litre on both petrol and diesel prices after curbing excise duty on the commodity by Rs 1.50 per litre. He had also directed all state governments to slash rates.

While the revision in prices was implemented in Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Assam, Jharkhand and Goa, a number of states are yet to implement the decision.

(With inputs from PTI)