Petrol pumps to remain closed in Delhi as dealers' association calls for one-day strike

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Petrol Dealers Association on Wednesday announced a one-day strike demanding a decrease in VAT over fuel prices. The association said that they will observe the strike from 6 am on 22 October to 5 am on 23 October. Following the strike call, all petrol and CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) pumps in the national capital will remain closed.

The dealers have called for a protest after Delhi government refused to decrease Value Added Tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel. VAT in Delhi is higher than neighboring Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

The Centre had recently cut the excise duty by Rs 1.50 per litre and asked PSU oil firms to subsidise fuel by Re 1. Thereafter other states followed suit and announced a cut in fuel prices. Maharashtra and Gujarat governments were among the first to announce a matching Rs 2.50 cut.

They were later joined by Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Assam, Uttarakhand, Goa, Arunachal Pradesh and Bihar with similar moves. Jammu and Kashmir, which is under the governor's rule, too reduced the tax on the two fuel. Maharashtra, however, reduced VAT only on petrol and not on diesel.

Even before the excise duty cut, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh had last month reduced VAT to cushion consumers for a spate of price increases.