Commuters run on empty as autos tank up

Commuters run on empty as autos tank up


Autos line up to fill gas at a pump on St Marks Road. A drop in auto LPG prices has resulted in shortage in supply/NAGESH POLALI
Express News Service
First Published : 02 Dec 2008 04:46:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 02 Dec 2008 01:10:36 PM IST

BANGALORE: A Rs 4 drop in auto LPG resulted in long queues at petrol pumps across the city on Monday.

Auto drivers who had been putting off refuelling in anticipation of the drop were met by long lines or no stock signs. Auto LPG prices dropped from Rs 38.40 to Rs 34.40 with effect from Monday.

And even as the oil PSUs and auto drivers debated the reasons for the long queues at fuelling stations, the man on the street was left to fend for himself.

Though officials from all the three major oil companies, Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), said that there was no shortage of auto LPG, dealers said that there was a shortage due to the disrupted supply.

Speaking to this website's newspaper, Bhushan Narang, president of the Bangalore Petroleum Dealers’ Association said that the long queues were because of the irregular supply. “The whole situation is the result of the tanker strike which has been on for more than a month. The oil companies haven’t paid the tanker contractors, due to which they are refusing to transport LPG.” BPCL officials claim that there is no problem and that all their pumps had been supplied with auto LPG on Saturday.

Officials from HPCL and IOCL also confirmed that there was adequate auto LPG at pumps.

To which Narang said: “If there was stock why would there be such lines. No dealer would turn away customers if they had stock.” The auto drivers have their own theories on this recurring problem.

According to Chandrashekar, it is the same scene whenever there is a drop or hike in the LPG prices. “The dealers haven’t stocked fuel just to cut their losses. Had they refilled before Monday, they would have suffered losses when prices drop. Now, we had to suffer losses as we spent most part of the day waiting in queues for fuel,” he said.

Venkatesh said that auto drivers had been running on the bare minimum fuel, waiting for Monday since the price drop was announced.