Petrol price is hiked, once again. To be precise, it is the 9th time in one year’s time. People will make hue and cry and the media will be busy with this issue for two days. Later, all of us will forget this and we will not change the way we do as of now. Everyone agrees that already the rates are subsidized and the hike is inevitable. However, when petrol prices in a few countries where they do not have processing facilities (they import directly) are lesser than ours, I don’t understand the logic of pricing in our country. This raises certain questions in my mind.
• Let them hike the price whenever the crude oil price is increased in global market but are they reducing the prices when they get reduced?
• Who negotiates the price on behalf of the companies? How good the negotiations are? Can they bring in a transparency in this?
• Is there any kick back in the deal?
• For every Rupee a common citizen pays for the petrol, 49% of it only goes to the oil companies and the rest to the Government? Why this? Why can’t we regulate this?
• What are the inefficiencies of the oil companies? Are they burdening the common man because of their lack in Organizational skill?
• Why cant they hike the price without creating a smoke about this? This time, the speculation about price hike was going rounds for more than week making availability of petrol rare as the petrol bunks wanted to make more money with old stocks.
• Why should they wait till the election results are to be declared?
• Why cant the authorities just go on a raid-spree finding hotels using domestic gas cylinders and not commercial cylinders for cooking?
• Why cant the cars are raided for using domestic cylinders (subsidized) and not commercial cylinders to fuel their vehicle?
• Can the companies stop giving subsidy from the second cylinder onwards? I know a few families who have 4 to 5 cylinders and their usage is 15 days per cylinder. This is a huge burden on the Government.
As a common man what can we do?
• Can we stop using our scooties for a travel distance less than 2 km? Cycling and walking is long forgotten. Chinese are far ahead of us in this.
• Should we stop using Cars if we are travelling alone and use cars only we go out as a family?
• Can we start using the public transport?
• Pool-car system is a good option that is highly neglected in our country
• Shall we stop using the subsidized cylinder in our geysers?
Perhaps, the answers to these questions will put a brake on escalating prices on petrol.
