So petrol prices remain constant at Rs 49.30 a litre while diesel sells at Rs 41.20 a litre. The Committee met to review the prices but found that a change was not necessary.
A senior officer at the State Trading Corporation (STC) said: “The decision not to make any changes in the price of petrol and diesel had been taken on the basis of the average price for the six months prior to import and six months after. The committee concluded prices showed a less than five per cent increase. Then it decided to maintain the current retail prices.”
In a press conference held on Friday by ACIM, the general secretary, Jayen Chellum had expressed his outrage at the fact that the STC was not budging on fuel prices. “The STC had made profits of Rs 1.8 billion,” he said, adding that prices should have been revised downwards.
However, the senior STC officer said: “The PPC has not changed the price of fuel for almost 15 months and this is due to the stabilisation fund that the PPC operates to mitigate fluctuations.” “The stabilisation fund — which currently has a sum of Rs 56.8 million — has not changed prices every month as in the past. So when prices declined, any surplus was paid into this fund. Thus, the population has not been required to pay more when prices have risen since that fund covered the deficit.” He explained that for over a year, there have been steady hikes in oil prices.
