In the last one month the petrol price has gone up by Rs 4 and diesel price by Rs 3 The daily revision has concealed the price hike and drop Earlier, even one rupee escalation would make big news
It has been two months since the Central government in its attempt to escape subsidy decided to revise petrol and diesel fares daily. But comparing the current prices to that of previous last two months does not show any major difference. However, the daily revision has concealed the price hike and drop, thus not eliciting public response. For instance, in the last one month, the petrol price has gone up by Rs 4 and diesel price by Rs 3. This has gone unnoticed by the public. Earlier, even one rupee escalation would make big news. But surprisingly Rs 4 hike has not been noticed at all, reports Kannada Prabha.
The petrol and diesel prices were revised once in a while, then. Later, it became a monthly and then twice-a-month affair. Every hike in fuel attracted huge response from public as well as Opposition. Sometimes, the protest would pressurise the government to reverse the hike. To avoid this, the government decided to use the tactic of daily revision and it has worked. The fluctuation goes unnoticed.
The daily fluctuation is in terms of paise, which is negligible. However, calculating for a month, the paise will add up to a rupee. For instance in Bengaluru the petrol price on July 15, 2017 was Rs 65.20. On Aug 15, it was Rs 69.12. The hike of Rs 4 has gone unnoticed by the public or even the Opposition parties. On the other hand, diesel was priced at Rs 54.99 on July 15, 2017 while on Aug 15, 2017 it was priced at Rs 57.37. The actual hike was Rs 3. Since neither the public nor the Opposition have taken note of it or responded, the government’s strategy of daily revision seems to have worked.
