The increase in petrol price has not helped the petroleum dealers rather it is depleting their margins, according to the office-bearers of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi district Petroleum Dealers’ Association.
Mr K. Vishwas Shenoy, President of the association, said that the increase in petrol prices increases the working capital and depletes the margins of the dealer.
Explaining this, Mr Satish N. Kamath, one of the office-bearers of the association, said that the margins of the dealers are fixed on per-litre basis. At the same time, other expenses like interest rates, bank charges, salary of the staff and electricity charges have grown substantially.
He demanded that the Government fix the margins of the dealers on ad-valorem basis. Following this, the margins would be depended on the value of the commodity. This will be better than the per-litre margins, he said.