Vehicle owners, a majority of whom have tightened their purse strings on account of financial distress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, are unhappy with the consistent rise in fuel prices.
For the first time, price of petrol in Bengaluru breached the ₹100 mark. The price of petrol rose from ₹99.89 per litre to ₹100.17 on Thursday night.
A. Balaji Rao, president of Bangalore Petroleum Dealers’ Association, said the new rate came into effect on Friday.
The price of diesel in Bengaluru went up from ₹92.66 per litre to ₹92.97.
In other districts, such as Ballari and Shivamogga, the price of petrol had touched ₹100 last week.
While the Karnataka government has eased up on the restrictions imposed during the lockdown to prevent the spread of the second wave of COVID-19, people have been relying on personal vehicles to commute to work in the absence of bus and metro services.
Ashish K. from Bengaluru, who uses his car daily to commute to work, said, “With salary cuts and a rise in inflation, the increase in fuel price has hit us hard. Two years ago, I would spend around ₹4,000 per month on fuel. Now, the amount is in the range of ₹5,000-₹6,000.”
People in the delivery sector, especially those who have signed up with food delivery platforms, say a further drop in daily earnings is inevitable.
A delivery partner said, “We spend long hours on the road every day moving from one location to another. Due to the increase in fuel price, our earnings have dropped significantly. I get ₹20 per delivery. If I need to earn ₹500 per day, I have to set aside ₹200 for petrol. The amount I am left with is not enough to meet my other expenses.”
The number of vehicles in Bengaluru has crossed one crore, of which 70% are two-wheelers that run on petrol. With public transport yet to resume, and amidst fears of contracting the coronavirus, people are increasingly relying on personal vehicles.
Last week, the Congress launched a ‘100 Not Out’ campaign across Karnataka to protest the rising price of fuel. Congress leader and MLA from Byatarayanapura Krishna Byre Gowda criticised the BJP government at the Centre for adding to the burden of citizens.
“These are tragic times. The Central government has cut taxes on the super-rich while levying more on common people by increasing prices of essential commodities, like diesel and petrol. Prices are not high because of international crude oil prices, but because of the astronomical taxes being levied,” he said.
He added that the Congress will intensify its agitation against the price rise across Karnataka.
