Petrol prices have been increased by an all-time high Rs 5 a litre and another huge increase of Rs 5.50 per litre is reportedly on the cards to compensate public sector oil companies for the losses incurred due to high global prices of crude oil. It is the common man who suffers because of these frequent increases in prices of petrol and petroleum products. The government needs to evolve a mechanism so that the burden of petrol price rise is not passed on to the consumers, at least for a certain period, so that the prices of essential commodities and transportation costs do not shoot up immediately. When high petrol prices stoke inflation, banks resort to cutting the interest rate on deposits, which hits senior citizens dependent on the interest income on their savings. The government should cut duties and taxes on petrol and petroleum products to save consumers from an increase in petrol prices. The oil companies can be compensated for the loss with money saved from curtailing unproductive government expenditure.
KV Seetharamaiah, Hassan (Karnataka)
