Fuel Prices To Change Daily From 16 June

India’s state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) have decided to revise fuel prices nationally on a daily basis from June 16.

The fuel price model was launched in five cities - Pondicherry, Chandigarh, Jamshedpur, Udaipur and Vishakhapatnam from May 1 that the dynamic fuel price model was launched at five locations in the course with the global practices. Private fuel retailers like Essar Oil and Reliance Industries have followed the model in these cities.

However, this model has raised concerns about execution and directory management among dealers. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) review retail fuel prices every fortnight taking global crude oil prices into account.

"We are planning to have a national launch of the dynamic pricing system by the second half of this month. However, dates are yet to be finalised," said a top official from an OMC. This development comes after reports that petrol and diesel prices will be revised on a daily basis from June 16.   

"This will be a cause of concern as dealers will not be able to plan on how to manage their inventories. Moreover, not all the outlets in the country are automated. This may also affect our margins," said A D Satyanarayana, president, the Consortium of India Petroleum Dealers (CIPD). CIPD has a presence in states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra and consumes an average of 170 kilolitre fuel monthly.

IOC, BPCL and HPCL's combined account for 52,604 out of 56,190 fuel retail outlets in India.  Reliance, Shell and Essar Oil are the private companies in the market.

"Things are getting normalised for us. Both customers and dealers have started getting adjusted to the new system," said Arjun Singh, president of Chandigarh Petroleum Dealers Association. The dealers had a concern about the declining stock value and were demanding an increase in their commission, which is around two to three percent as of now. OMCs are likely to take a call on dealer commission by June 30.