Pune: Transporters may up charges to offset increasing fuel costs

PUNE: Transporters in the city — alarmed by the constant rise in fuel prices — warned of an increase in transportation charges.
In Pune on Monday, a litre of petrol cost Rs91.23, while diesel cost Rs 80.33.

Ali Daruwalla, national spokesperson for the All India Petrol Dealers Association, said Monday’s petrol price was the highest in Pune since 2013, when a litre had cost Rs93,
In Mumbai, petrol prices hit an all-time high of Rs 91.56 per litre.Diesel too peaked at Rs 81.60 per litre.
Baba Shinde, president of a state transporters’ body, said they would have no choice but to jack up the transportation charges, which would ultimately be passed on to consumers, “as the prices of commodities would go up”.
Shinde said they have written to Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari in this regard.
“In the letter, we requested the minister to roll back the excise duty on fuel. We have only just begun to get back on our feet after last year’s slump, and the fuel hike is making things difficult for us,” Shinde said.
Private cabs too increased fares on some routes — for instance, a one-way trip to Lonavla that previously cost Rs2,000-2,500 now costs Rs3,000. “We too need to recover out costs. The fuel prices are increasing at a very inconvenient time as we are just recovering from the effects of the pandemic. We are already struggling as the number of passengers in our cabs is just a fraction of that at pre-Covid levels,” Guru Katti, president of a cab drivers’ association, said.
Daruwalla said relief was on the way. “Empowered groups of ministers will soon discuss the fuel price hike issue and a rollback of the excise. Also, a long-term strategy to reduce dependency on fossil fuels is in the offing,” Daruwalla said.