Memes are being made on social media on the acche din (good days) and people do not know how to address this situation. Politicians from the opposition parties who should be vociferous on this issue have not been able to make much impact. However, there have been some token protests, primarily for photo-ops.
Petrol and diesel prices on Sunday were hiked again by 35 paise a litre and the auto fuels now cost a third more than the rate at which aviation turbine fuel (ATF)/jet fuel is sold to airlines. The fourth straight day of 35 paise per litre hike sent petrol and diesel rates to record highs across the country. In Goa petrol price is Rs 103.63 per litre, diesel price is Rs 99.96 per litre and domestic LPG has crossed Rs 900 per cylinder.
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This was never imagined in Goa as at one point of time late Manohar Parrikar’s government had reduced the VAT and ensured that petrol price would not go beyond Rs 60 a litre. It continued so for loans while. It also became a big draw for the tourists from neigbouring states who were incentivized by the cheaper fuel and liquor in Goa. The rise in fuel price will also heavily impact tourism.
Former Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha in a tweet on Sunday termed the fuel price hike as a “daylight robbery”. Hitting sharply at the Union government the Vice President of Trinamool Congress mentioned that, “We are a country of dead people. Nowhere else would people have tolerated the daily and unjustified rise in petrol, diesel and LPG prices.” He also commented that if the government collected Rs 75,000 crore in taxes in 2014, it is today collecting Rs 3.5 lakh crore from fuel, “Isn’t it a daylight robbery?” asked Sinha.
Petrol used in two-wheelers and cars now costs 33 per cent more than the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) which is sold to airlines. ATF in Delhi costs Rs 79 per litre. The costliest fuel is in the border town of Ganganagar in Rajasthan where petrol comes for Rs 117.86 a litre and diesel for Rs 105.95. The rise seems to be unending and it has become a daily routine. Since ending of a three-week long hiatus in rate revision in the last week of September, this is the unprecedented 16th increase in petrol price and the 19th time that the diesel rates have gone up.
While petrol price in most of the country is already above Rs 100-a-litre mark, diesel rates have crossed that level in over a dozen of States and Union Territories including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Bihar, Kerala, Karnataka and Ladakh. Prices differ from State to State depending on the incidence of local taxes, primarily VAT.
Defending the price rise the Union government, especially the Petroleum Ministry, has always maintained that the price is adjusted by the companies and government has no control over it and also is regulated by the international benchmark Brent Crude price. The Brent crude is trading at $84.8 per barrel for the first time in seven years. A month back, Brent was trading at $ 73.51.
Common people who are most affected by this price rise have always raised their meek voice in social media and other platforms asking why fuel and liquour are not under the Good and Services Tax (GST). A number of times it was also placed before the GST Council but the State governments were not in favour of this as it will usurp their power to change VAT and generate revenue.
Ultimately, it is the common people who will suffer as the taxpayers ordinary citizens do foot the fuel bills of all government machinery, whether State or Central. For consumers, the sharp petrol and diesel price hike is burning a hole in the common people’s pockets. The government seems to not have any control over the sharp fuel price surge over the past months even as the COVID-19 pandemic situation improves across the globe. If such is the scenario then who is going to raise this issue before the Union or the State governments to reduce taxes on fuel and give relief to the common people?
