Fuel Pumps In Eight States To Be Shut On Sundays From May 14

Fuel Pumps In Eight States To Be Shut On Sundays From May 14
Diesel and petrol gas pumps stand at a Hindustan Petroleum Corp. gas station in New Delhi (Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg)

Starting May 14, fuel outlets in eight states will be shut every Sunday following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to conserve oil, a fuel pump owners' body said on Tuesday.

We had planned to shut our outlets on Sundays a few years back. But oil marketing companies had then requested us to reconsider our decision. Now we have decided to shut the outlets on Sundays.
Suresh Kumar, Executive Committee Member, Consortium of Indian Petroleum Dealers

Kumar, also the vice-president of Tamil Nadu Petroleum Dealers Association, said nearly 20,000 outlets in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Puducherry, 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 Rs 150 crore if we do not operate on a Sunday. But we have been seeing a decline in sales on Sundays by up to 40 percent," he said.

Asked if the association's decision was supported by the OMCs, he said, "We will communicate our decision to them shortly."

Kumar said the fuel outlets which normally have about 15 staff each would have one staff member on the holidays to provide fuel if there was an emergency situation.

On the issue of OMCs hiking margins to petroleum outlets, he said the association was discussing it and would soon make an announcement in this regard.

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