Transport vehicles stop fuelling in Telangana

Hyderabad: Many transport vehicles have stopped refuelling in Telangana from January 16. The Rs 2 VAT has resulted in escalation of price by Rs 1.80 to Rs 3.76 per litre in TS.

Transport vehicles have a fuel tank capacity ranging from 350 litres to 1,400 litres. Normally they opt for full tank refuelling. However, from January 16, drivers are seeking refuelling at TS pumps for only Rs 500 or Rs 5,000. If they fill full tank in TS, they pay Rs 1,050 more for 350 litres and Rs 4,200 more for 1,400 litres as diesel is costlier by Rs 3 in TS. “This is making truckers bypass TS. It is bringing down fuel sales in border area petrol pumps by 40 to 50 per cent and in the other pumps by 20 to 30 per cent. The loss in sales has a cascading effect as the sales lost also entails a loss of revenue by way of 19.22 per cent VAT and additional loss of 30 per cent of excise duty which is the state’s share from the petro products sale. So the imposition of VAT is working in a reverse direction with the state’s petro revenue going down,” said Vinay Kumar, general secretary,

Telangana Petroleum Dealers’ Association. Dealers are concerned that around 1,500 pumps located on highways in TS would have to close down, if the same situation continues for a few more days.

“The loss of sale questions the economic viability of small and rural dealers who account for around 1,500 families. Each pump gives direct employment to at least 10 to 12 persons and they are the bread winners for their families. It implies that at least 20,000 families along with 1,500 dealer families will be in dire straits and in some cases unemployed. Added to that is around 4,000 fleet of tanker trucks which employ at least 8,000 people. They will be badly affected making them unviable to ply because of low volume of sales,” Mr Kumar added.

The dealers took up the issue with Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Finance Minister Etela Rajender on Saturday, who asked officials to examine it thoroughly and withdraw the Rs 2 VAT if the government is losing tax revenue on account of it.

At one point, Mr Rajender found fault with petrol pump owners for unnecessary raising a hue and cry over Rs 2 VAT hike ignoring the Centre’s decision to hike excise duty four times since Nov. last.

However, he seemed convinced with the dealers’ argument that the excise duty was uniform across the country and it had not resulted in disparity of price between TS and neighbouring states, but the Rs 2 VAT hike by TS government led to price disparity between neighbouring states.