Although petrol and diesel prices have not been hiked for the last week, they remain at the historic high of Rs 119.97/litre for petrol and Rs 102.68/litre for diesel in Pune. (Express photo by Abhisek Saha/File) The all-time high prices of fuels — petrol, diesel, compressed natural gas (CNG) and cooking gas — have made a dent in household budgets, especially among the lower- and middle-income groups. However, the worst affected are those whose livelihood depends on transporting people and goods — autorickshaw and cab drivers, school bus owners and food delivery and courier executives among many others.
Although petrol and diesel prices have not been hiked for the last week, they remain at the historic high of Rs 119.97/litre for petrol and Rs 102.68/litre for diesel in Pune. The CNG is priced at Rs 73/kg and the household liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) at Rs 902 per cylinder.
With crude oil prices seeing a fresh high on Wednesday, the daily price hikes in fuel in India are expected to resume soon. Expensive fuel means reduced incomes for people who earn a living in the transport sector or those who are involved in food and courier deliveries.
Vaibhav Kumbhar (26), who has been working as a food delivery executive with Swiggy, said: “If petrol prices keep on increasing at this rate, I will have to quit this job. My earnings have come down due to increased spend on fuel. I am spending Rs 100 extra on petrol as compared to last year and this means I take that much less when I head home.”
Ravi Thakur (49), who drives an autorickshaw on Pune streets and is involved in transporting school children during the morning hours, said that he would have to increase the monthly fee per student to survive in the business. The CNG rates have seen an approximate 30 per cent hike over the last year. In June 2021, CNG was priced Rs 56.60 per kilogram. The price as of Thursday stands at Rs 73 per kilogram.
“Considering the financial situation prevailing, I have not pressed the parents (of children) for a monthly fee hike although the increased spending on fuel is burning a hole in my pocket. However, if the CNG rates continue to be hiked, I will be left with no option but to effect a hike. Earlier for a to-and-fro school trip, I required CNG worth Rs 150, now that has gone up to Rs 230,” said Thakur.
Navnath Shirsagar (40) owns a tempo that provides the service to a furniture shop for a monthly fee and he drives it himself. “For 20 years, I have been transporting goods for the same shop. Diesel cost is provided by the shop but due to this hike they did not increase my salary as expected. I used to earn Rs 15,000 and now after a lot of requests he has increased by Rs 2,000. I also load and unload the goods myself. I deserve a monthly remuneration of Rs 20,000 but the owner is balancing my salary to compensate for the price hike.”
Dr Keshav Shirsagar (34) believes that the government is raising petroleum prices to boost the sale of electric vehicles.
“I regret buying a bike two years ago, I could have directly bought an electric vehicle,” said Dr Shirsagar who stays in Pune and travels daily to his hospital in Pimpri-Chinchwad… A few years ago my monthly fuel bill was Rs 5,000 and now it has gone up to Rs 7,000. I believe that the government is letting petroleum prices go up because it wants people to shift to electric vehicles. However this shift must happen organically and should not be forced through such means,” said Shirsagar.
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