TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: The Union Petroleum Ministry has decided to treat the fuel supply from the consumer pumps to fishermen, as the supply which is to be supplied at retail prices with immediate effect, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Veerappa Moily said on Friday, effectively reducing prices for fishing trawler owners by about Rs 11.
Fishing trawler owners were on strike, protesting the hike. Fishermen are individual customers and not bulk customers and will continue receiving supplies at the price applicable the other retail outlets, Moily said.
On the logic that fishermen were individual customers and not bulk customers receiving supplies in bulk from oil marketing companies (OMCs), government ruled that supply to fishermen would be treated as retail supply.
In principle, the bulk customers are those organizations or industries who have a single entity receiving supplies in bulk from the OMCs such as defense, railways, state transport undertakings, power units, auto manufacturers etc. The idea behind denial of subsidy to the bulk customers is that these customers can afford to bear the burden of the market price either on their own or can pass on the burden to their end customers.
Fishermen from all over including Goa had met the minister asking for a reduction in the Rs 11 per litre of diesel and wanting a separate section for them.
According to the Centre, fishermen, are individual customers who for the sake of convenience have come together and formed cooperatives and requested OMCs to install outlets exclusively for their use. “In effect, they are individual customers who are engaged in fishing, which is the basic means of their livelihood. Treating them at par with the industrial/commercial customers or government organizations would be unjust and unfair and cannot be the intentions behind the government’s decision to deny subsidy to the bulk customers,” a communique from the government media said.
