Daily revision of diesel, petrol prices isn't benefiting consumers for now

The daily revision of petrol and diesel prices was supposed to benefit buyers as any reduction in global crude prices was expected to have a trickledown effect, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Petrol price, since the oil companies introduced daily revision, has seen a steady and constant rise. So much so, that petrol price now is the most expensive in the past three years. Since July, a fortnight after the daily revision was introduced, petrol price has been hiked by Rs 6 per litre.

Diesel which is currently priced Rs 57.03 a litre in Delhi,  has seen a rise of Rs 3.67 a litre which is the highest in four months. Petrol, meanwhile, is priced Rs 69.04 a litre in Delhi. This just a little less that the second-half of August 2014 when it was priced at Rs 70.33.

The daily revision in petrol and diesel prices was introduced on June 16. While the first couple of weeks saw a slight drop, the prices began to increase from July 3 onward. According to the PTI, the rates have since gone up every day except on four occasions when prices were cut by 2-9 paise per litre.

The fact that the prices have not increased by Rs 2-3, but instead seen small increase of 1 paisa to 15 paise a litre everyday, the hike has largely gone unnoticed and not created any major trouble for the government so far.

"Previously, everybody felt the pinch when rates would go up by Rs 2 or 3 per litre in one go. Now they are being increased by 1 paisa to 15 paise a litre everyday, hikes that have largely gone unnoticed," the PTI quoted a senior oil company executive as saying.

the price change pilot has already been conducted in five cities. "The daily price revision is an initiative for ensuring the best possible prices to the customers as well as improved transparency in the pricing mechanism," IOCL said.

Oil marketing companies (OMC) had conducted a 40-day pilot in five cities - Chandigarh, Jamshedpur, Puducherry, Udaipur, and Visakhapatnam - before they rolled out the fluctuating price system nationally. The prices are revised at 6 am everyday, earlier it used to be revised every fortnight.

Customers who want to know about the daily petrol prices can check the cost by sending a SMS or logging into Indian Oil's mobile app. The app Fuel@IOC will carry both diesel and petrol prices. Customers can type RSP< SPACE >DEALER CODE and send it to 92249-92249 to receive the fuel prices through SMS.