Hyderabad: Many complaints are being received from the customers that petrol pump dealers are cheating them through various ways. Pumping points are being manipulated which results in the loss of Rs. 2 if Rs. 100 fuel is taken.
Although the prices of petrol got reduced in the international market, Govt. of India did not provide any relief to the customers. On the other hand, by revising the rates of petrol and diesel every day, the prices of the fuels are being enhanced enormously. Added to this, by manipulating the petrol points, customers are being cheated. In this way, less petrol is pumped.
It may be mentioned that the system of revising the fuel rates every day was started on 16th June this year. From this date onwards, the rates of petrol and diesel got increased from 5 paise to 35 paise but the reduction in prices was nominal.
Earlier, fuel prices used to be reviewed fortnightly but these days, it is being reviewed daily. With the change of software in the petrol pumping machines, dealers are getting benefitted since, after the change of revising process, petrol pumps have not been modernized. The owners of many petrol pumps ensure the change of prices manually. At many petrol pumps of Hyderabad, prices of fuels are being determined every morning at 6 a.m. In Mumbai, with the change of prices, the rates are automatically changed. To the dealers of manual petrol pumps, the news of the change of price is received through mobile phones or they get this information through a web portal. The dealers change the prices when there is an increase but in the case of decrease of prices, they neglect it.
It is observed that most vehicle owners take fuels in terms of rupees, not in terms of litres which results in the loss to the customer. The new software has been prepared to adjust it to the nearest rupee which benefits the dealers. Due to the reduction of points in pumping, consumers lose Rs. 2 for every Rs. 100 fuel purchased.