If we talk about the coronavirus pandemic, when did it actually hit India in terms of Lockdown? It hit India in March 2020, and after that, so many restrictions were imposed. When it comes to traveling and, of course, traveling not only domestically but also internationally. So there were so many impositions of different practices for social distancing. The people had nowhere to go, and that is why the prices of crude oil crashed. And it crashed to such a limit that the prices for petrol and general oil weren't revised for a record 82 days. Now, because of the imposition of so many restrictions on traveling, people had nowhere to go. Nowhere in a sense their entire transaction and traveling were stopped, and because of that, the demand for petrol fell. It creates the effect of double whamming. First of all, where to go, and because of where to go, the demand fell, and they couldn't tap the benefit of the lower oil prices.
If we talk about the oil Marketing company since remember first, the citizen couldn't get the benefit of lower oil prices. Second, the economy tries to get back on track after the lockdown; the economy's recovery started to happen. The oil pricing company is increasing petrol and Diesel prices since November 20, 2020. Since then, there has been a higher trend. Diesel and petrol prices have hit a record high across the country, with petrol touching Rupees 89 per liter in Delhi and Diesel reaching a new high of Rupees 86.30 per liter in Mumbai. And if we see 2020, only in 18 days the petrol price has gone up by Rupees 2.65 per liter, and Diesel rate has risen by Rupees 3.41.
*Why are consumers paying more?
Why do consumers have to pay more because of the decontrolled price of fuels? This one-way street consumer will be at the negative end that they will receive with the negative part of the increase or even decrease in oil prices. In the sense that oil was initially regulated, that means it comes under the regulation of the Government. But in the year 2010, the Government decided that they will not regulate the prices of petrol that means they will not set the retail petrol price it will be done by oil Marketing companies. In the year 2014, deregulation was also got imposed on Diesel. So if we talk about that, the all marketing company started revising the prices of oil in a fortnight. But after June 16, 2017, the revision of prices is being done daily. Because to safeguard the consumers from any frustration or stress on the oil because of the oil prices, this was done daily to be seen as a stabilized practice.
So because the decontrolled price on fuel is happening, the oil Marketing company, to increase their profit margins, has not actually lead the consumers to get the benefits of the lower crude oil prices.
You must be logged in to post a comment.