Petrol, diesel sales see fall in border districts of Punjab on lower rates in neighbouring states

Petrol pump owners in Punjab on Wednesday said petrol and diesel sales were witnessing drop in areas adjoining Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh because of difference in rates.

"Mohali and Rupnagar are the worst affected districts as there is a huge discrepancy in rates between Mohali and Chandigarh and Rupnagar and Himachal Pradesh," Ashwinder Singh Mongia, member of the Petrol Pump Dealers Association, Punjab (PPDAP) said here.

He said petrol price in Mohali was Rs 4.90 per litre higher than that in Chandigarh, while diesel was expensive by Rs 2.71 per litre.

There has been continuous drop in value added tax rates in Chandigarh, which is a union territory, since October 2017, resulting in total shift of petroleum trade from bordering districts of Punjab to Chandigarh, he said.

Mongia alleged that the rate difference in fuel prices has prompted Chandigarh dealers to resort to unscrupulous means of sales and are indulging in rampant smuggling of petroleum products.

A survey of all the 40 petrol pumps in Chandigarh indicated that about 70 per cent of the customers belong to neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana, and only 30per cent customers belong to Chandigarh, he said.

All the petrol pumps in Mohali will go out of business if immediate steps are not taken to address the issue, he claimed.