The Tamil Nadu Petroleum Dealers Association (TNPDA) has decided to retract its decision to close fuel outlets on Sundays.
In a press release here, the association president K.P. Murali said the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas had clarified that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not asked dealers to close fuel outlets on Sundays. “A large number of people too had opined on social media that closure would inconvenience consumers,” he said.
However, the Consortium of Indian Petroleum Dealers (CIPD) to which around 25,000 outlets in the country are affiliated, in its recent executive committee meeting in Kurukshetra in which the TNPDA too was party, had said that the Petroleum Conservation Regulatory Authority had received thousands of messages supporting Mr. Modi’s suggestion of avoiding usage of petrol/diesel on one day a week.
‘No work-hour curbs’
Mr. Murali went on to say that association members, numbering around 4,600 in the State, would also not participate in the proposed no-purchase of fuel agitation called by the CIPD on Wednesday. Similarly, they will also not restrict their hours of operation from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Monday.
“These protests were planned keeping in mind our demands for dealer commission. However, the TNPDA has decided to take part in protests only if the CIPD and the All India Petroleum Dealers Association call for them jointly. This is because the two associations are joint signatories to an agreement about dealer commissions with the Petroleum Ministry,” he explained.
A section of dealers affiliated to the TNPDA, however, said though they were not happy with the decisions, they will abide by it. “We were also part of the CIPD decision. Why did we keep mum then? To keep changing decisions seems very unlike us. Somehow, we feel the Central government has bullied us into rolling back our decision. Members in other States including Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnataka are going along with the CIPD’s decision,” said a dealer.
