[furyrider]

Mods: Please delete this post or move it to an appropriate thread if you feel this is OT to this thread.

The following is my view about the increasing fuel prices. I am a middle class tax paying private employee with no other sources of income. I, like most commoners, have no finance background, so my understanding might be flawed.

I have read a lot about how increase in fuel prices contribute to nation building. Honestly, I feel this is rather breaking the back of the people who pay half their income in direct and indirect taxes and get nothing in return. Let me explain how: I would quote a simple everyday example of how the increased fuel prices impacts us. Imagine going to the local supermarket for your weekly shopping. You pick up a toothpaste and place it in your basket. Ever wondered how it ended up at your neighbourhood store? A diesel truck possibly transported the product from the factory to a warehouse which then ferried the product to a local wholesaler/distributor on another diesel truck. The product was then transported to the local grocery store or supermarket chain via smaller commercial vehicles like Tata Ace. Insert any product instead of toothpaste, the process would still remain more or less the same. I understand the MRP is calculated taking all these into consideration. Now that fuel price has increased almost 30%, will the fleet owners who transport the product bear the losses? They would take losses to some extent, but would pass it on to the consumer if they feel their already wafer-thin margins are diminishing. This would increase the price by a few rupees. The same goes to vegetables, food, etc. I do agree that how these things work is more complicated than this. However, bear in mind that not just the end product, but the raw materials are also transported to the factory in the same diesel powered trucks. You get my point, right?

Now, after picking up your favourite toothpaste, you pay the bill. You may not even notice if the price increased since most of us do not even know how much our toothpaste costs in the first place. You come out of the store and start your two/four wheeler to return home (assuming the store is not in a walkable distance). Again, a fuel powered vehicle is used. Now, one may argue that the increase is insignificant to make a real difference i.e., your running costs increased a few rupees, which is okay for most people. However, add the slight increases in your running costs and compare it to say - the same month last year! You would be surprised to see how much things were cheaper back then.

You may even question why did I even take so much effort to type all this? What is your point? My original question - where is nation building here? I drive on the same pothole ridden roads applying brakes and changing gears often making my vehicle consume more fuel. The trucks that transported the product drove on the same broken highway paying the same already insane toll and harassed by the same cops every now and then. Don’t we pay tax for 15 years in advance when we purchase a vehicle that already has a 50% tax factored in the ex-showroom price? Don’t we pay a toll of 1-1.5 rupees per km on expressways that are not even maintained properly? Where did all this money go? Where is the public transport system that is supposed to be developed utilising these taxes? I won’t even start discussion on GST, income tax (which a paltry 1% pay), ever increasing insurance premiums, swaach Bharath cess, et al. Oh, the LPG cylinders. I don’t even know what to comment on that. An eye watering 200+ increase per cylinder since lockdown started.

During this time, how much did my salary increase? Zero! Yep, zero. My last hike was in November, 2019. I would not comment on my company or job change since I feel it is OT to an already OT post. I have burned through my savings and find it extremely difficult to even save a penny every month. My maid who gets welfare schemes/aka free money has asked for an increase citing increased expenses. I even paid her in full during the lock down. My apartment’s maintenance has increased slightly since it is now getting costlier to run the diesel generators. Where is nation building in all these? The government is just making up for their revenue losses by robbing the middle class. This is daylight robbery, not nation building.

Some my find my post to be exaggerating things a bit, but please do remember that fuel is what runs this country. Everything we order or touch once travelled on a set of wheels that runs on a ICE. Increase in fuel will have a domino effect on everything. We may not see it now, but sure will in the near future!

Thanks for reading my rant with patience.

[Doonite]

Originally Posted by FrozeninTime

He should apologise and take down the video as his action has threatened the livelihood of petrol Pump owner and his employees.

To add to what other users have already pointed out, if you've watched both the videos, the person in question Mr.Shyam had already asked for the petrol pump owner's permission beforehand, and the petrol pump owner had specifically asked him to mention their name for publicity as well. Now it's just arm twisting by the hurt people to make the petrol pump owner put pressure on the comedian.

Mr.Shyam has already apologised as well for the hurt sentiments if any, but rightly mentioned that he will not remove the video.

So, as other's have pointed out, the comedian Mr.Shyam hasn't done anything wrong. If anything, we should be applauding his brilliant mimicry!

P.S I'd like to request other members to be civil because the rude and crass tones do not help in getting the point across. Just my 2 cents

[sunilsreenivasg]

Originally Posted by NPV

Historically, Karnataka and Bangalore in particular have had one of the highest fuel prices in the country, but thankfully Petrol is still priced below Rs.100.

Tanked up the car this morning and petrol was priced at Rs.93.59

You have two contradicting statements..one side you are saying that Bangalore has high petrol prices in the country and it is still below 100, where as ,it has already crossed 100.
I have been roaming in south India for more than a decade and I can confidently say that Bangalore prices are low compared to neighbor states. Andhra is hovering around 97-98 while Bangalore is still at 93-94 (as on today). While, Tamilnadu as well is around 95-96. Kerala might be lesser when compared to karnataka but definitely not Andhra and Tamilnadu

[psyph3r]

Originally Posted by FrozeninTime

What he did was not correct. He made a satire on PM of our country in the guise of shooting a video on increasing fuel prices.
He should apologise and take down the video as his action has threatened the livelihood of petrol Pump owner and his employees.

I'll just leave this video here, btw LPG price was hiked by Rs.25 just today.

https://youtu.be/TyKgqtkAi0I

[NPV]

Originally Posted by sunilsreenivasg

You have two contradicting statements..one side you are saying that Bangalore has high petrol prices in the country and it is still below 100, where as ,it has already crossed 100.

The fuel prices discussion thread on Team BHP has been around for a decade or more. If you read posts there, you can see that till about 3-4 years ago, Bangalore had much higher prices than in other states and many Bhpians back then would only leave bangalore on outstation trips with just enough fuel to take them to one of the recommended COCO outlets in the neighboring states. However, now other states have caught up on price levies and have overtaken us, so now it makes sense to tank up before leaving Bangalore/Karnataka

[udaikalra01]

Originally Posted by JithinR

I was just too lazy to create a new thread for memes on fuel prices so posting this here.

https://Youtu.be/zjE4iydpxE8

P.S Can't believe that I didn't see this till now even though it's been out for a week.

Hahaha! He is from my city, Sri Ganganagar. Went viral for his mimicry of our (now)PM Modi back in 2014, before the general elections. I, frankly, do not think he did anything wrong here. Good that the issue is sorted now. Fuel station owner is now getting supply. This was reported in a local newspaper couple of days ago.

P. S.: Regular petrol has touched almost 102 here, today!

[funkykar]

Such a sorry situation. I really feel for this guy that he has to face a lot of consequences for no fault of his and also the necessity of him to clarify himself. He still stands by his ground, appreciable

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty_L7WkpBtQ

Originally Posted by sunilsreenivasg

You have two contradicting statements..one side you are saying that Bangalore has high petrol prices in the country and it is still below 100, where as ,it has already crossed 100.
I have been roaming in south India for more than a decade and I can confidently say that Bangalore prices are low compared to neighbor states. Andhra is hovering around 97-98 while Bangalore is still at 93-94 (as on today). While, Tamilnadu as well is around 95-96. Kerala might be lesser when compared to karnataka but definitely not Andhra and Tamilnadu

It's slightly cheaper in Karnataka only in recent years. Predominantly fuel has been higher in Karnataka for many decades. It was a very common occurrence to leave Bangalore with sufficient fuel to border states and refill there whenever making interstate travel. Similarly while returning, they would full tank at border and enter Karnataka and feel victorious.

[AutoNoob]

Originally Posted by FrozeninTime

What he did was not correct. He made a satire on PM of our country in the guise of shooting a video on increasing fuel prices.
He should apologise and take down the video as his action has threatened the livelihood of petrol Pump owner and his employees.

Originally Posted by mvadg

Sorry, I don't see any issue here. "Satire" is allowed as part of our fundamental rights and this freedom is guaranteed by our constitution. Instead, we should be asking about and prosecuting anyone threatening the petrol bunk owner for no good reason.

Originally Posted by click

People like you don't understand the concept of freedom of speech. For you any one can say ridiculous things as long as the person supports your point of view. Now in this case someone uses satire but is against your preferred leader, suddenly you are all about how this is not right, etc.... He made fun of Modi, which in my opinion is deserving as current PM's point of view of petrol price rise was very different few years ago and is now very different when it comes to himself.

Originally Posted by navrddy

I see nothing wrong in this video.
If every expression of freedom is curbed. then we are living in undeclared emergency.

Originally Posted by funkykar

There is no disrespect towards our country or PM. He never gave advantage to the opposition or anything on those lines. This is purely humour and satirical. No need for anyone to see any offensiveness in it. Our PM also describes several things in humourous way, including references to opposition party, dont we see the lighter part of it then?

Originally Posted by Fernang

I'm not sure if you were being sarcastic, but, if you were not then, it is appalling that we are at a point now where apparently pointing out the truth will invite threats and punishments.

Originally Posted by Singh101

- He did shoot a video on increasing fuel prices, like he said he would.

- He did do a comedic, satirical impression of Narendra Modi, as is his right under the constitution.

- He has absolutely nothing to apologise for.

- In no way has HE threatened the livelihood of anybody in that pump owner's employ. The threat of licence revocation for something that's protected under the constitution is a crime and should infact be investigated.

Originally Posted by Doonite

Now it's just arm twisting by the hurt people to make the petrol pump owner put pressure on the comedian... Mr. Shyam has already apologised as well for the hurt sentiments if any, but rightly mentioned that he will not remove the video... So, as other's have pointed out, the comedian Mr. Shyam hasn't done anything wrong. If anything, we should be applauding his brilliant mimicry!

With risk of going OT, I am sharing this opinion :

In the decades of 1990s~2000s (that I can share about):

• we could exercise freedom of speech and speak our mind about the elected public servants and the government they formed without any apparent fear (obviously within the bounds of decency).
• People who didn't agree with our thoughts used to counter us via their point of views, yet were accommodative of alternative view.

However, in recent times :

• voicing opinions/ discontent/ disagreements against the elected public servants and the governments (at Centre or states, be it any party) is tagged as dissent against nation.
• Common man is harassed, punished and in some cases even lynched for speaking against the elected servants, while terming it as protecting nation.
• People have become hardened to just follow 'their leader(s)', leaving almost no scope of alternate thought and trying to justify the choice they made years back by way of their ballot.

Dissent is integral part of democracy and its not sufficient to voice dissent only during elections via ballot. Ballot represents majority view; however, in democracy, minority view is also important.

Even in Supreme Court, though the judgment is made by majority view, the minority view is recorded in form of 'dissenting judgment'. And history has ample examples where such 'dissenting judgments' have formed basis for notable decisions in coming years.

[atnyia]

I think the previous regime had a more justifiable rationale for high fuel prices with record-high crude prices at that time. The current regime's explanation is that they are covering revenue shortfall (poor budgeting?).

We also need to have some nuance here. Honestly, there are no good solutions to our current fiscal deficits with a thrust on spending. This method, although being crude, is still better than simply issuing bonds to OMCs, i.e. essentially kicking the rock further down the road.

The evil thing about this method is that, on one side, the government has essentially capped the low side of the fuel prices by adding more and more excise whenever prices go down. On the other side, the government is calling and treating it as a deregulated commodity whenever prices increase.

So, the government is having its cake and eating it as well.

[arvindmanju]

Reuters Exclusive: India's finance ministry considers cutting taxes on petrol, diesel - sources
Reuters

“We are discussing ways in which prices can be kept stable. We will be able to take a view of the issue by mid-March,” said one of the sources.

India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently said: “I can’t say when we will reduce taxes on fuel, but (the) centre and states have to talk to reduce fuel taxes”.

Another one of the sources said a decision on fuel taxes may only be made following a meeting of OPEC and major oil producers, also known as OPEC+, later this week.

“There is an expectation that OPEC+ would agree to ease oil output curbs, we hope oil prices will stabilise after their decision,” this source said.

[Scarlet_Rider]

Came across this article today.

Man of the match gets 5 litres of petrol as award in cricket tournament in Bhopal

[Arjun Bharadwaj]

Some people be like "the government is doing this to encourage electric mobility adoption"

Jokes apart, the video was pure fun. This much fun should be allowed and enjoyed rather than beaten down.

[fhdowntheline]

If I were a public figure of importance and someone was able to do my mimicry, I'd invite that person in a public event to perform the act.
I remember during one media conclave, Raju Shrivastava performed an excellent mimicry of Lalu Prasad Yadav, who was sitting in the audience and heartily appreciated it!

[ramzsys]

Politics, memes, jokes, sarcasm and democratic 'noise' apart, this is the kinda free market reaction I was awaiting to hear.
State-refiners' daily diesel sales, which are related closely to economic growth and account for about 40% of overall refined fuel sales in India, fell by 5.3% in February, the largest decline in three months, the data showed.

Action (should) speak (to the govt) louder than words.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by FrozeninTime

What he did was not correct. He made a satire on PM of our country in the guise of shooting a video on increasing fuel prices.
He should apologise and take down the video as his action has threatened the livelihood of petrol Pump owner and his employees.

"Not correct" is your expression of democracy and you're welcome to it, the satire is his expression of democracy, i.e free speech/right of opinion and he's welcome to it as well.

The action that was taken after his video, however, reminds me of countries like North Korea, Sudan, Myanmar etc, should I say India coup d'état?

To everyone else who is siding with the great federation, irrespective of left, right, up, down etc, keep this in mind :

1) Lack of options does not mean we cannot create a whole new option, that means just about anything - we can choose not to vote at all, or we can choose to silently protest by not giving in to capitalistic urges, or we can raise our voices, despite being an absolute minority, without fear of being herded.

2) WE are an intrinsic part of the country, no ONE person is the absolute idol, emblem or personification of a nation, that is about as foolish as saying the moon is the biggest artifact in the sky just because we can see it clearly, billions of stars many thousands of times bigger exist, only much farther away.

3) Monetary system is a 2-way street, while the federation tweaks the inflation/deflation, we control its circulation, ignoring either will be like a cardiac arrest to the entire economy, they need US more than we need them as far as the monetary system goes, because we are the end-product consumers.

4) Control by peers, popular opinions, PR agencies, social media etc is just that - control. Being blinded by control means you lose your humanity, your soul's perspective of what's truly right and wrong.

The United States of America, though not a perfect democracy by a long stretch, at least knows how to mock it's own politicians, from SNL to YouTube, Family Guy to Simpsons, they mock them brutally at free-will. Even a decade ago in India, the then party rulers were trolled, mocked and imitated like none other, and although they themselves remained completely unaffected by these things as usual, it was a good way for the citizens to blow off steam by watching them, one of the simple pleasures should I say?

Let me put this into perspective, millions are jobless now due to Covid, the gym, malls and entertainment industry are crumbling at the seams, crime rate is increasing and oil & vegetable prices are soaring, farmers are protesting and with no end in sight to their troubles many are committing suicide, GST and tax departments are harassing entrepreneurs like never before, with all that going, fuel is at an ALL TIME high, both diesel and petrol,
and you mean to tell me that seemingly harmless satire video with no vulgar or abusive content is the crime of the decade!?