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Originally Posted by fiestarry

No one starves because of a fuel price hike by a few rupees...the lower and middle classes have their own survival mechanisms.
Along with every price rise, the price of most commodities go up, and soon enough do the rates for labour etc.
It isn't as though the lower and middle classes are earning the same that they were earning thirty years ago while the fuel prices have gone up .
Besides, the freebies that each Govt doles out to the economically backward, come from such revenue on fuel etc.
Ranting about fuel prices with political overtones is a good pastime; salary hikes and bigger car, house purchases are a well kept secret.

Wow! What a ridiculous statement and thinking. Your opinion reeks of privileged trumpian mindset and a complete lack of awareness and empathy for common people.

Forget salary hike and freebies, there are many just counting their luck that they still have a job that pays.

For you it might be a hike of few rupees, but for most it means a huge adjustment in their monthly budget to survive.

[Nilesh5417]

Somehow this country seems to be worried 'more' about progress in terms of stock markets, the shiny buildings and long roads (cough...) built on the back of amazing corporate performance at the cost of environment and aam junta. No measure of social index ever. It doesn't matter which government, the environment continues to get ravaged and the economic divide simply keeps going up. Why not bump up the CSR pie each year when corporates report jump in profits? Am no economist but why not find ways to get more out of corporates than the common man?
I was surprised how salaried people I know said a collective hurrah when taxes didn't go up. It's like taxes not going up is a more realistic expectation over the slabs becoming more favourable.
Like all things, rise in fuel prices must be looked at in the context of the pandemic. Many many have lost jobs, lost lifelong savings, lost money in their businesses and each little hike pinches them hard. It all adds up or results in subtractions from your life at the end of the month. Won't pinch the guy with the private jet. Pinches the maid that takes care of our kids when we go to work cause her hubby has to drop and pick her up on his bike from 10kms away when he isn't getting welding work like before

[nandrive]

Compared to 2012 government's spending has gone up significantly like, free toilets, Ayushmann bharat, I guess 6k per year for farmers, etc etc. Every year more forest land is converted into farm land, and also electricity supply has improved so now government has to spend more on providing free electricity to farmers, also farm loan amount and waiver has been raised. Spending big on infrastructure and military, personal income tax limit has been raised. Government has improved direct benefit transfer by plugging some loopholes, so even the poorest of the poor are benefitted to certain extent. So government has to tax something someone. In few cases like delhi even State tax on fuel has gone up. So I feel we don't need to be too harsh on the government, ofcourse depends on the political side we would like to take. As an individual I would like to pay as little tax as possible(may be even 0) at the same time I need to be practical as well.

[saleem_k]

There is an absurd justification by many that the government needs more money now to develop the country and therefore the taxation is justified. But how come the same people were complaining of high fuel prices prior to 2014 and that was one main agenda put forth by the opposition then?

What's unfair is that the benefits of price reduction in crude oil prices were never passed on to the common man, specially in the last 2-3 years. In fact we are paying a lot more than what is needed and this is pure daylight robbery. I'm fortunate not to be affected much but not many are that lucky and now even the LPG gas cylinders are costly. It was in mid 400s in 2014 and now it has crossed 700. This is going to affect a lot more people than just those with a daily commute.

Also, I realized last year that be it the state government or the central government, no one came to help common folks when they were dying of Corona in the hospitals. People paid lakhs for their own medical bills (irrespective of their financial position) and hospitals were also trying to fleece in their own way.

What was the use of contributing to state or central relief funds if they didn't come to your rescue when needed? I've decided to help real people around me rather than contributing to such funds which will not even approve of getting audited citing stupid reasons. In the end, we all are being taken for a ride by everyone around us and unfortunately this is what we will have to deal with as long as politics and politicians are higher than the people who make the country.

[yogiii]

I do not wish to go OT from the title thread but my point of view to the solution to rising fuel costs for a country like ours where majority of middle class use two wheelers is electric 2 wheelers. Why are not leading manufacturers Bajaj, Hero or Honda looking at this potential opportunity? City two wheelers rarely go on highway to worry about low range and the infrastructure required for two wheeler charging can be accommodated much easier than for 4 wheelers.

With startup brands like Ather entering market at higher price bracket maybe the established players can bring in products at lower price points and entirely eliminate the need of fossil fuels.

My 2 cents

[mvadg]

I have a solution that will make everyone* happy and deliver us from this endless rise in fuel prices:

I believe that the government is expected to collect about Rs 6 lakh crores from fuel taxes.
https://www.orfonline.org/expert-spe...-products/?amp

Expenditure on central government pensions is Rs 1.75 lakh crores.
I could not find the consolidated total expenditure of our government on salaries, benefits and pensions, but there have been frequent articles in the news stating that a major chunk of the government revenue is used up in paying its current employees and pensioners, leaving very little for real development.
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/stor...270-2020-04-23

Given that nearly every one of us has complained about the poor value we get from our government, my first action as a CEO would be to get rid of this huge liability ,
hire temp staff if required and limp along hiring essential workers like medical professionals, teachers and the like and save, save, save.
Next, allow smart cookies to volunteer (Mr Mahindra and Mr Bajaj, for example) and "prove themselves" - they will each receive a completion certificate, after which they can go back to their jobs. Plenty of free labor available to run the nation.

Petrol price? We will not need petrol, because by the time our "interns" finish their project, we would have transitioned to EVs. Of course, we will complain about the high price of one KWH of electricity at Rs 100, but at least we would have closed this thread and started another one on the dangers of silent EVs.

[slayer23]

My view is this increasing fuel cost has a huge impact on most of the things we consume. Given how much we order online today, this has a direct impact on the spends of the delivery guys. Not getting into specifics, but as their fuel spends increase, they would want higher pay and that means higher delivery cost/mark ups to cover the cost.

For gig workers, this is huge since every few Rs increase in fuel translates to big amount. For a Uber/Ola driver a Rs 5 increase in fuel price means on a given day they spend extra Rs 60-75 minimum. In a month that’s ~1700-2000. Pretty significant given the fares don’t change so fast to catch up with fuel price.

[anish5225]

Originally Posted by yogiii

I do not wish to go OT from the title thread but my point of view to the solution to rising fuel costs for a country like ours where majority of middle class use two wheelers is electric 2 wheelers. Why are not leading manufacturers Bajaj, Hero or Honda looking at this potential opportunity? City two wheelers rarely go on highway to worry about low range and the infrastructure required for two wheeler charging can be accommodated much easier than for 4 wheelers.

With startup brands like Ather entering market at higher price bracket maybe the established players can bring in products at lower price points and entirely eliminate the need of fossil fuels.

My 2 cents

I think by the time majority starts moving away to electric, taxes on electricity will start rising. I am pretty sure that the reason behind the current taxes on fossil fuels is not the wish for a cleaner environment but the govt badly needs this tax money.

[JithinR]

Originally Posted by yogiii

I do not wish to go OT from the title thread but my point of view to the solution to rising fuel costs for a country like ours where majority of middle class use two wheelers is electric 2 wheelers. Why are not leading manufacturers Bajaj, Hero or Honda looking at this potential opportunity?

With startup brands like Ather entering market at higher price bracket maybe the established players can bring in products at lower price points and entirely eliminate the need of fossil fuels.

My 2 cents

Bajaj has already introduced the Chetak. Hero invests in Aether. Not sure what Honda is up to in this segment.

Some of us have been waiting for someone to introduce a decent electric scooter for quite some time. Problem for me is that both the Bajaj Chetak and TVS iQube don't have removable battery modules.

For people living in apartments it's not possible to charge through the port on the bike. As far as I understand the only decent scooty which meets this criteria is the Okinawa I Praise. I am not really convinced about it being a well engineered product though.

If we could have a scooty that could do 80kmph, with atleast a 100km range, removable battery modules then that would be a game changer.

[SaiSW]

This is getting absurd. 87.5 rs in my state for a litre. I used be mad when it was in the high 70s but it seems like the rise to triple digits is inevitable in my area.

As usual, of all the classes, it will be the middle class that will have to pay through their noses, like it has been ever since I can remember. Doesn't matter if govt A or govt B is at the helm, middle class will keep getting squeezed.

[PrasannaDhana]

Imagine the plight of transport operators / commercial goods movers. This is tragic.

I own 7 school buses which don't give me over 6 kmpl, and to operate each of them for 150 km every day, at an extra 20 rupees per liter from last year, that's an increase of about 3500-4000 rupees per day. I stand bewildered and clueless as to how I am going to survive this catastrophe. Imagine bigger institutions that operate 50-100 buses!!

My friends own bus companies that run 250-300 km a day (local town shunts) and 700 - 1000 km a day (inter city trips), they can't over charge the customers too, as most people who use public transportation are either poor or lower middle class, to whom, each penny counts.

Every service now gets more expensive. I also dig borewells and the cost of digging per feet, that the borewell digging rig companies charge, has gone up from 60 rupees to 85 rupees in the last 18 months.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by saleem_k

What was the use of contributing to state or central relief funds if they didn't come to your rescue when needed? I've decided to help real people around me rather than contributing to such funds which will not even approve of getting audited citing stupid reasons. In the end, we all are being taken for a ride by everyone around us and unfortunately this is what we will have to deal with as long as politics and politicians are higher than the people who make the country.

Excellent point. Agree completely.

In fact, just yesterday there was a local drive in and around my society to collect funds for a religious institution. I pointed out the obvious that the funds would have been better served for Covid related reasons and I'd rather support that - all I got was cold stares.

[yamaniac]

I have been using my E-cycle "Hero Lectro" that I Bought during the lockdown. Now I use it to commute to the office and do other chores like grocery shopping running errands etc all on my cycle since this January. And have clocked over 800 Kilometers in just one and a half months.
No doubt I have saved a lot on fuel and vehicle maintenance and other expenses and have become fitter.

The traffic in this city here has grown multi-folds.. Traffic jams, roads dug around for expansion for the so-called smart city. And on top of that this fuel hike that's the last straw.

My Vehicles are all catching dust. All I do is wash it once in 15 days and run it idle for 15 Minutes. But It has come to a point now that I am planning to dispose of them and commute on a cycle that seems more practical.

Surprisingly riding a cycle to work has become much faster and economical than traveling to the office in the car or a bike.

[Venkatesh]

Petrol up by 25 paise to Rs 95.46 a litre and diesel by 30 paise to Rs 86.34 a litre in Mumbai. Prices rise for seventh consecutive day and continue to hit all-time high



Source

[ottocycle]

Originally Posted by yamaniac

Surprisingly riding a cycle to work has become much faster and economical than traveling to the office in the car or a bike.

E-bike looks a great option. What about the safety and pollution aspect when compared to riding inside car.