SHILLONG, Nov 4: The Centre’s decision on massive cuts on petrol and diesel excise duty may have come as a breather to the common man but it adversely affected the dealers across the country.
On the occasion of Diwali, the government reduced excise duty of Rs 5 on petrol and Rs 10 on diesel. On Thursday morning, the price of petrol in Shillong was Rs 99.28 and diesel Rs 85.75 per litre.
The reduction has annoyed the dealers in Meghalaya as many of them had built up their stocks given the festive season. They held a meeting and discussed the issue.
A petrol pump dealer, who requested not to be named, said as the refineries remain closed during Diwali and on the occasion of Bhai dooj on Saturday, most retailers in Shillong refilled their pumps to full capacity to ensure that the consumers do not face any shortage.
He said they will now suffer huge losses as a result of the reduction of the prices.
“The government took more than six months to increase the prices of petrol and diesel by Rs 12 as the increase was happening in paise every day.
Now, they suddenly reduced the prices by Rs 10-12. This caused a loss of Rs 9-10 lakh to me. Many retailers on the highways suffered losses up to Rs 30 lakh,” another retailer said.
He said the government reduced the prices to appease the people of Uttar Pradesh which is going to elections.
Following the Centre’s decision, many state governments, including Assam, Tripura, Manipur and Sikkim, announced a reduction in VAT on petrol and diesel by Rs 7 per litre.
Meghalaya has already expressed its inability to slash the taxes on fuel. But the retailers said it should follow suit. At present, the rates of VAT for petrol and diesel in Meghalaya are 20% and 12% respectively.
