CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Petroleum Dealers Association (TNPDA) on Wednesday demanded that they be paid a commission on a percentage basis. This has to be done by doing away with the present system of paying a fixed amount for a Kilo Litre (KL), irrespective of the upward hikes in prices of petrol and diesel.The TNPDA also demanded that their commission be increased to 5 per cent from the present quantum which works out to nearly 2.2 per cent for petrol and 2.1 per cent for diesel. Talking to reporters, M Kannan, President of TNPDA, claimed that the petroleum dealers were the worst hit next to the common man due to the petrol, diesel price hikes. On July 1 this year, the commission was increased from `1,218 per KL to `1,499 per KL on petrol. On diesel, it was increased from `757 per KL to `912 per KL.“Whenever we seek commission on percentage basis, we demand that it be fixed as five per cent. The oil companies and the Centre say the common man will be affected. However, they forget the common man when increasing petrol and diesel rates,” he said. L Ramachandran, Vice president of TNPDA, said every time a hike was effected, it meant pumping in more money into the business besides the ever increasing maintenance cost, evaporation loss, power and salary bills. There is, however, no reciprocal compensatory returns.“The commission remains `1.46 a litre for petrol and 87 paise for diesel. This fixed quantum will not go up despite the hike in overall prices. If the commission is fixed on percentage basis it will go up with the hikes. Only then can we hope to break even,” he said.Arguing against a proposed increase in the number of pumps by 3,000 in Tamil Nadu, the association functionaries said it would erode their business share and cut into their meagre profits. The TNPDA officials said new pumps could be set up only in areas that had a few pumps. Already, the average sale of combined volume had come down to nearly 120 KL from 250 KL in the past five years because of the new retail outlets. The dealers are put to a lot of financial hardships due to the loss in volume.“We hope the PM will go for a roll back. Our association will decide on the date for a one day stop purchase. Until percentage basis is considered for dealer margin, we will protest,” said the TNPDA officials.
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