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Mohali petrol pumps lose 18% diesel sales to Chandigarh

MOHALI: Petrol stations in Mohali have seen an 18% dip in sale of diesel even as those in Chandigarh have seen a 45% surge in the past five months. As far as petrol sales are concerned, Chandigarh petrol pumps registered a 17% rise in petrol sales as compared to that in Mohali, which saw no change in sales of petrol.


The Petrol Pump Dealers Association in Mohali alleged that a continuous drop in VAT rates by the Chandigarh administration from October 2017 resulted in a complete shift of petroleum trade from bordering districts of Punjab to Chandigarh.



Ashwinder Singh Mongia, president of the Petrol Pump Dealers Association, Mohali, said it was abundantly clear that Chandigarh had seen a growth of 44.47% in diesel sales and 16.91% in those of petrol from October 2018 to February 2019. Mohali on the other hand has lost 17.63% sales of diesel and has remained more or less static as far as petrol sales are concerned.

"The sales in Mohali district, especially the city, have made a shift to Chandigarh and there has been a drop of almost 70% in sales at petrol pumps in Mohali since October 2018," he said. "The rate difference has prompted Chandigarh dealers to resort to unscrupulous means of sales and Chandigarh dealers are allegedly indulging in rampant smuggling of petroleum products from Chandigarh to neighbouring districts of Punjab," said Mongia.

Recently, a tanker indulging in illegal supply of diesel was apprehended by the mobile wing of the excise & taxation department, Punjab, recently in Mohali and an FIR was also registered at Mattaur police station against the dealer. However, no action was taken by the oil company against the dealer, thereby indicating that an oil mafia might be operating in Chandigarh and possibility of involvement of company officers in this could not be ruled out.

This is just a tip of the iceberg and such activities shall continue till there is a rate parity between Chandigarh and Punjab. The only beneficiaries, so far, have been petrol pumps of Chandigarh.

Punjab Petrol Pump Dealers Association president Paramjit Singh Doaba said, "Petroleum trade in Punjab and more so in the border areas of the state has seen a continuous downfall in the past five years. Mohali and Rupnagar are the worst-affected districts as there is a huge discrepancy in rates between Mohali and Chandigarh and Rupnagar and Himachal."

VAT rates of petrol and diesel have been successively reduced by the Chandigarh administration in October 2017 and then again in October 2018, which led to a downfall of sales in Mohali and Ropar, he added. Though the Punjab government has reduced VAT on petrol by Rs 5 and diesel by Re 1 per litre on February 18, still Mohali is expensive by Rs 4.54 per lt in petrol and Rs 2.74 per lt in diesel as compared to Chandigarh, said Doaba.

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