Fuel price surge jolts Kerala as people brace for all-round price rise

For Keralites, the elation of finally getting a Chief Minister after a ten-day long sordid drama was tempered by the jolt of a fuel price hike announced by State-owned oil companies, which came into effect on Friday (May 15, 2026) at 6 a.m.

In Ernakulam and surrounding regions, diesel prices rose by ₹3.26 and petrol by ₹3.16, with a further revision not ruled out within a fortnight. Anticipating the hike, many vehicle owners had filled their tanks the previous night.

Petrol and diesel prices hike LIVE

“There is no shortage of fuel stock at petrol pumps at the moment. However, oil companies no longer insist on maintaining the mandatory three-day stock, which has now been relaxed to two days,” said Tomy Thomas, president of the All Kerala Federation of Petroleum Traders.

Oil companies have also largely withdrawn the credit facility offered to petroleum dealers. Indian Oil Corporation appears more lenient, allowing dealers to pay for a load already delivered before receiving the next within two or three days. The other two companies, however, insist on advance payment, said a petroleum dealer.

Sarada Joby, a housewife, expressed anxiety over a possible hike in domestic cooking gas prices, adding to what she sees as an imminent all-round rise in essential commodities. “Common people were already reeling under price rise, and the latest fuel hike will further push up the cost of essentials,” she rued.

M.R. Soman, area secretary of the Ernakulam District Autorickshaw Drivers Association (CITU), and an autorickshaw driver for 42 years at the Ernakulam KSRTC depot stand, said livelihoods are slipping out of autorickshaw workers+’ reach. “When I began driving a petrol autorickshaw, petrol was ₹4 a litre and the minimum fare was ₹2. The last fare revision was four years ago, since which fuel and spare parts prices have multiplied. Workshops now charge a minimum of ₹100 for minor repairs, compared to ₹30–₹50 earlier. We operate at a minimum fare of ₹30 and ₹15 per kilometre thereafter, while online cabs charge ₹65–₹75 even for half a kilometre trip. Survival is impossible unless the minimum fare is raised to at least ₹50,” he said.

A. Shyam, an IT professional from Chottanikkara, said the hike was anticipated since the West Asia conflict but delayed due to Assembly elections. “Oil companies are quick to pass on the burden of crude oil crises to the public but never shared the benefits of low crude prices by reducing fuel rates,” he seethed.

For the hotel industry, the timing could not have been worse, already reeling under a recent hike of nearly ₹1,000 for commercial cooking gas. “Kerala, being a consumer State dependent on others for almost everything, will face an all-round price rise. We cannot afford another increase in food prices, having already raised them after the gas hike. But if fuel prices rise further, we will have no choice,” said T.J. Manoharan, State Secretary of the Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association.

Cab operators at the prepaid counter of Kochi International Airport also face a dilemma. At present, they charge ₹36 per kilometre and cite the need for at least a ₹2 increase to remain viable. “We cannot raise fares unilaterally without approval from our society’s board of directors. We are surviving only because of subsidised spare parts supplied through our welfare society,” said C.Y. Eldho, director board member of the Kochi International Airport Taxi Operators Cooperative Society.