The hike in fuel prices, though anticipated, came as an early morning shocker to many motorists in Chennai on Friday. Dealers said that initially there was some panic and people were asking for fuel in bottles and cans, which was discouraged.

S. Balasubramanian of the CITU Auto Thozhilalargar Sammelanam said that even when crude prices were low, fuel prices remained high affecting the common man and autorickshaw and taxi drivers.

“We have been facing shortages ever since the war began. Queues at petrol bunks have now become part of our lives. No steps have been taken to normalise fuel supplies. The war and high crude prices have been on for quite some time now, and the Centre has waited to see the election results before the hike was announced. The BJP-led government should not allow fuel exports by private refineries,” he added.

Jude Mathew of the Independent Taxi Owners and Drivers Association urged Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay to reduce the State’s share of taxes from sale of fuel until things normalise. This, he said, will help cab and autorickshaw drivers, who are already struggling due to low metre fares. He also pointed out that, to reduce fuel prices, the Centre must cut various cess’ imposed during various times.

Consumer activist T. Sadagopan said that the price hike will have a cascading effect on the prices of all goods including essential commodities. Transporters will immediately hike charges and not decrease it when fuel prices go down.

T.S. Padmapriya, whose work involves a lot of travel, said that already transportation took a lion’s share of costs. “Many companies have still not hiked salaries after the pandemic. Only State government employees have been given a 2% hike in DA. The Chief Minister should strengthen public transport,” she opined.

Pressure on outlets

The Tamil Nadu Petroleum Dealers Association president, K.P. Murali, explained that for nearly four years, the public sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) maintained retail fuel prices despite significant global fluctuations. The war has caused international crude oil prices to surge, recently crossing the $100–$110 per barrel mark. While most countries adjusted their retail prices immediately in response to rising crude costs, Indian OMCs did not.

“While we recognise the necessity of this revision for the OMCs, the dealers have to significantly increase their working capital to maintain the same volume of daily stock. This places an immense financial strain on small and medium-scale retail outlets. Over the last three weeks, dealers across many regions have not received petrol and diesel as per their submitted indents. We urge the Centre to ensure the immediate restoration of fuel supplies as per dealer demand,” he said.