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Motorists pin hopes on private petrol bunks

 
With the continuing impasse between petrol bunk owners and the Government over the reduction in petrol prices, vehicle owners may be forced to schedule specific fill up times at the local bunk Monday onwards.

As many as 400 petrol bunks in the City and nearly 4,000 bunks across the State will enforce the ‘single shift policy’. According to the new policy, fuel stations in the City will be open for business from 9 am to 6 pm. Those stations outside the City, however, will open only after 6 pm.

In this ration-like scenario, many commuters in the City have placed their hopes on privately-operated petrol bunks and those which are directly operated by oil companies.

It is estimated that there are 25 private petrol bunks  in the City, including those run by Shell. There are also a similar number of bunks operated directly by oil companies. “These will definitely not join our call for a ‘single shift’ and will help ease commuter pangs,” said Bhushan Narang, the president of Karnataka Petroleum Dealers Association.

Many bunks situated on thehighways have been counted as City-based stations. “We have left the decision to individual bunk owners to open their shop depending on their sales.

If there are more two-wheelers and four-wheelers coming to their stations, they will open at 9 am and shut down at 6 pm. Those with a higher demand for fuel, from lorry owners and highway commuters, will open at 6 pm,” Narang said.

Maximum effort

Almost all fuel stations will operate with their full complement of staff to cope with the anticipated extra demand. “We will divide our staff according to traffic at the stations. From Monday, the entire staff will be on-hand to deal with the customers. There should not be much of a problem for commuters,” Narang said.

According to B R Ravindranath, the president of the Akhila Karnataka Federation of Petroleum Traders (AKFPT), petrol stations beyond Peenya, on Mysore Road and other highways have already decided to open only after 6 pm.

“We do not want to inconvenience commuters, but the Government has forced us to implement this single shift policy because of their apathy in implementing the Apoorva Chandra Committee report,” he said. 

The Apoorva Chandra committee report advocates a periodic review of dealer commissions by oil companies during the months of January and July, by taking into consideration variations in minimum wages and power rates.