The petrol pump and tank-lorry owners, it seems taking a clue from the public transports, are now demanding that the government raises commissions on fuel sales and transportation fares following the recent hike in fuel prices.
According to sources in the re-fuelling business, the leaders of the Bangladesh Petrol Pump and Tank-Lorry Owners Workers Unity Council, a representative body of the both operators and workers, held a meeting on 14 November to negotiate the demand with the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).
But the meeting ended inconclusively, the sources said.
“But no concrete decision has come from the meeting as the BPC took time to hold an inter-ministerial meeting to take opinions from the other ministries concerned”, said Nazmul Haque, president of the unity council, also the president of Bangladesh Petrol Pump Owners Association (BPPOA), which also held a separate meeting with the BPC on the same issue .
He, however, informed that a 12-point demand of the unity council was placed to the BPC. The organisation has been urging the government for long to meet their demands.
“But the latest phase of fuel price rise has pushed us into to an unbearable situation,” he told UNB.
Nazmul said they will go for action programme to realise their demands if the BPC fails to raise their commissions within a week or two.
The government raised the prices of diesel and kerosene to Tk 80 per litre from Tk 65 with effect from 4 November.
In line with the rise in fuel prices, the government raised fares of bus, trucks, launches and other mode of vehicles run by diesel.
As per the demand, the petrol pump owners want the government to raise commissions on retail sales to seven per cent from the existing three per cent on diesel and four per cent on octane sales and in terms of taka, it is to be Tk. 0.75 per litre from the existing Tk 0.50.
In this case, they demand to raise tank-lorry fares to Tk. 0.75 per litre from existing Tk. 0.50 per litre for a distance up to 40km from the fuel depot and at the same ratio for other distances.
Soon after the prices of diesel and kerosene were raised, the official sources said, the Tank-Lorry Owners Workers Unity Council placed their demands to the BPC.
“Both sides discussed widely different issues of the unity council’s demands including raising the commissions on fuel sales at retail level from the petrol pumps”, said a top BPC official preferring anonymity.
He informed that BPC would now put forward the pump and tank-lorry owners’ demands along with its own views to the Energy Division of the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry for consideration.
He said the refuelling sector has been asking the government to meet some of their other demands as well for long and went on countrywide strikes on different occasions.
But so far many of the demands were not met despite strong assurance from the government side, he added.