Oil firms hike commission paid to dealers, no rise in fuel prices

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| Photo Credit: Murali Kumar K

State-owned fuel retailers on Tuesday hiked commission paid to petrol pump dealers but there will be no change in retail petrol and diesel prices.

Petrol and diesel prices will fall in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Himachal Pradesh due to a rationalisation of intra-state freight.

“IndianOil is pleased to announce a revision in the dealer margins (effective from 30th October 2024), following the resolution of a pending litigation. This will have no additional impact on the Retail Selling Price of products,” Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) said in a post on X.

Dealer commissions would vary according to sale and place. Details were, however, not immediately available. At present, dealers are paid ₹1,868.14 per kilolitre, plus 0.875% of produce billable price as commission on petrol. The same on diesel is ₹1,389.35 per kilolitre, plus 0.28% of product billable price. This will further enhance customer service standards and the welfare of staff employed in retail outlets, IOC said.

“Further, demonstrating the core value of Nation First, our endeavour to provide affordable petrol and diesel across the length and breadth of the country on a sustained basis has come to fruition. #IndianOil has undertaken intrastate rationalisation of freight which will reduce variation of retail selling price of product across various markets within a state, except in geographies where Model Code of Conduct is in place,” IOC said.

Union Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri welcomed the intra-state freight rationalisation that he said will “benefit consumers located at remote locations (far from petrol and diesel depots of oil marketing companies) which will result in a decrease in petrol and diesel prices in several parts of the country. (Decision in poll-bound States and constituencies will be implemented later)“.

In a post on X, he cited the example of Kunanpally and Kalimela in Odisha’s Malkangiri where petrol price will reduce ₹4.69 and ₹4.55, respectively; and diesel rates will be cut ₹4.45 and ₹4.32, respectively. Similarly, petrol prices will reduce by ₹2.09 and ₹2.02 in diesel in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma. Rates will also be cut in Bijapur, Bailadila, Kateykalyan, Bacheli, and Dantewada of the State. Similarly, prices will also be cut in several places in Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Mizoram.

“The dealer commission increase will provide better services to approximately 7 crore citizens who visit our fuel retail outlets in the country every day, without increasing fuel prices,” he said. “The fulfilment of this demand pending for the last seven years will bring joy and happiness in the lives of petrol pump dealers and nearly 10 lakh staff working at more than 83,000 petrol pumps across the country.”