Chandigarh, July 9
The State-owned oil companies have asked their dealers not to participate in the ensuing indefinite strike from July 18.

Sources in the oil companies say letters have been sent to dealers asking them not to go on strike as it would cause immense hardship to the public. Saying that the sale of petrol and diesel fall within the purview of the Essential Commodities Act, 1998 and any strike would be a violation of the Act, the oil companies have threatened action if the dealers still resorted to strike.

But, like in the past, these letters are not likely to have much effect on the over 25,000 petroleum dealers in the country.

At a meeting with top brass of the oil companies on July 7, representatives of the Federation of All India Petroleum Traders reiterated their demands and refused to go back on the strike decision.

The meeting ended in a deadlock.

Petrol pumps across the country had remained closed on April 18 and June 20 for a day each.

“Our demands are genuine. How long can we be expected to suffer in silence?” asks Punjab Petroleum Dealers Association President J.P. Khanna.

Among the major demands of the petroleum dealers are increase in dealer commission from the present Re 0.70 per litre; increase in the permissible evaporation loss from 0.6 per cent per litre to 1.4 per cent for petrol and from 0.2 per cent per litre to 0.8 per cent for diesel; payments of hill area shrinkage allowance arrears and having uniform tax structures across the country.

“In 2002, when the cost of a litre of petrol was around Rs 23, we were being paid 70 paise per litre commission. Now, when the cost per litre is almost Rs 42, our commission is still the same.

As for evaporation loss, a study that the oil companies themselves got conducted said these losses are 1.4 per cent for petrol and 0.8 per cent for diesel.

The issue of uniform tax structure is also in public interest. While a dealer in Punjab is paying 31 per cent tax, his counterpart in Haryana pays only 20 per cent. This leads to smuggling of oil,” says Mr Khanna.