As fuel prices continue to zoom ahead, commuters seek easing of tax burden

CHENNAI: Motorists and transporters across the city are worried over spiralling fuel prices, which were hiked for the third time over the last 20 days. While auto and cab drivers have spiked the fares a little to meet operational costs, transporters and private vehicle owners are distressed over the unreasonable increase. The petrol price in Chennai on Friday stood at Rs 88.07 and diesel at Rs 80.90 per litre. In a day, the price of petrol increased by 22 paise and diesel, 22 paise.

Expressing their anger, commuters demanded that the government review the pricing structure and check if relief can be given by easing the tax burden. “The public is unable to keep track of the rates that spike daily; this makes it difficult to manage our expenses with a fixed monthly income. Also, the spending capacity of the public plummeted due to the pandemic. We can neither opt for autos nor go in our own vehicles,” said R Srinivasan, a resident of T Nagar.

Lorry operators, who travel at least 400 km a day, are badly affected. TN Sand Lorry Owner’s Federation president S Yuvaraj said lakhs of lorrys have stopped operations due to losses due to Covid and the consecutive rise in fuel prices.

“Petrol and diesel must be included in GST. Also, the previous government gave us subsidies as it would affect the price of essential goods. With no subsidy provided currently, we are in a fix,” he said.

Owing to the price hike, cab and auto fares too have flared up. The city has witnessed an at-least 20-30 per cent increase in the prices. “We are limping back to normalcy only now after Covid. If we do not hike fares, we will again face losses. Already, the demand for autos has come down as office goers started working from home,” said Arul Raj, an auto driver from Perambur.

Petrol bunk employees also said commuters have been fuming for the past month, and the sales have reduced. “We have no control over the price hike, yet motorists shout at us. The government has to reduce the taxes as there is further possibility of a fuel price hike,” said a staff at a petrol bunk in Velachery.