The Consortium of Indian Petroleum Dealers (CIPD), a national body representing over 60,000 fuel outlets, has written to the Centre appealing for a stimulus package to tide over declining sales following the lockdown.
“The dealer network would be put to severe financial stress otherwise,” CIPD president M. Narayan Prasad said in a communication addressed to the three national oil marketing companies. “Though sales volume is less than 10% of our usual sale, our expenditure to run the retail outlets remains the same. We have been asked to pay full salary to employees and have to bear electricity charges, water charges, evaporation losses and also ensure payment of bank interest to keep the pumps open during the lockdown,” he said.
National general secretary, CIPD, K. Suresh Kumar said the dealer margin should be calculated based on the average sale during December 2019 to February 2020. In other words, pay the dealers based on their immediate past performance rather than on the truncated sales ever since the lockdown and the related restrictions on movement came into force in March.
The CIPD wants such a package to be paid to the dealers for a period of 120 days or four months as it presumably expects normalcy in fuel sales to take time, he said.
A dealer, who did not wish to be identified, said though oil companies was supplying them products on credit, the interest-free clause was only until April 20. “They are pushing stocks since their refineries are over-stocked. If we are unable to pay by 20th, then interest also has to be paid,” he said.
A copy of the letter has also been submitted to the oil ministry for its consideration.
