Fuel stations will be closed every Sunday in eight states following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to save oil, a fuel pump owners’ body held in Chennai.
“We had planned to close our outlets on Sundays a few years back. But oil marketing companies (OMCs) had then requested us to reevaluate our decision. Now we have definite to close the outlets on Sundays,” Suresh Kumar, an executive committee member of the consortium of Indian petroleum dealers added.
He expressed that administration’s verdict was concluded in the outlook of the Prime Minister’s call during his present ‘Mann ki baat’ programme to preserve oil to protect the environment.
Kumar, also the vice-president of Tamil Nadu Petroleum Dealers Association, said nearly 20,000 outlets in Karnataka, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Haryana would be shut for 24 hours on Sundays, starting May 14.
“In Tamil Nadu, we expect a business loss of 150 crore rupees if we do not operate on a Sunday. But we have been seeing a drop in sales on Sundays by upto 40 per cent,” he told.
Asked if the organization’s choice was kept by the OMCs, he said, “We will converse our decision to them shortly.”
Kumar said the fuel channels which normally have about 15 staff each would have one staff member on the holidays to deliver fuel if there was an emergency situation.
On the issue of OMCs climbing the margins to petroleum outlets, he said the association was conversing it and would soon make an announcement in this regard.
“That struggle is going on. We are meeting our association members shortly. We will announce our decision soon,” he added.
Petrol Stations will be Closed on Sundays in Eight States
