[funkyp]

Originally Posted by wilful

I wonder what the quantum of rollback (which I think is a dead cert) is going to be.
My guess is that being the 'slog overs' if one may call this final phase of this government, one may see some more politically difficult decisions.

Even for the so called slog overs this quantum of hike is bold. Wonder if they can stick to this decision. Though I drive a diesel car, i support the hike being necessary to maintain the deficit.

What I am fear is the spiralling effect it might have on other essentials. Even though the actual impact may not be much, it might be used as an excuse to hike prices across the board

[reswaran]

Originally Posted by manikjeet

They should have raised it slowly.

+1. A Re. 1 hike say once in 6 to 10 months should have been the norm all along. I am for the LPG ruling though. Why should the government coffers bear the brunt of our overconsumption?

[nettooran]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

When he returns, do show him this thread.

I am ok with the Rs. 5/- hike in diesel prices.

Well, I do not see too much foolishness in his act. He filled up 42 lts worth of diesel. That is a saving of Rs 210 and thats an additional 4 lts of fuel which turns out to additional 75 Kms. And that would be enough for another 5 days of his office trip( his office is just about 8kms away) Does that not sound smart? He was lucky that his tank was almost empty.

[Skyline GT-R]

So next week will be spent mostly working from home with CPM, BJP, Auto~Taxi unions, Bus owners assn etc etc Hartaling to their hearts content.

[snkjr]

IMHO, to me personally it feels really uncomfortable to know that I'm living my life on subsidized items when clearly I don't need the benefit of subsidies. But there really is no way for oil companies to have differential rates of diesel/LPG/petrol for those who need subsidies and those who don't.

I'm playing my part in the destruction of the economy and the laggard development of my homeland by taking unfair advantage of a government policy which is really aimed at the benefit of those less fortunate and economically weaker. The policy is right in spirit, but alas it is being milked by all, including us car owners.

I don't want to live my life off subsidized items. I don't feel proud of it. I'm willing to pay the fair unsubsidized market price if the oil companies ever get around to charging unsubsidized rates from economically strong individuals.

This is an economic issue, we can't afford to let the real issue drown down in inevitable unseemly political blabbering from different cliques that will soon surround us following the reduction in subsidy (which is wrongly referred to as price hike).

[Vid6639]

I just hope that this Rs.5 price increase keeps everyone quiet now. This should be some long term plan. Customers are left hanging between petrol and diesel cars and manufacturers don't know whether to concentrate on petrol or diesel because of undecisive govt. policies.

Raise the price by Rs.5 and declare no deregulation on diesel and be done with it for the next few years.

[romeomidhun]

Originally Posted by Skyline GT-R

So next week will be spent mostly working from home with CPM, BJP, Auto~Taxi unions, Bus owners assn etc etc Hartaling to their hearts content.

Typical Kerala scene! Nowhere else in India this kind of madness happens.

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by reswaran

I am for the LPG ruling though. Why should the government coffers bear the brunt of our overconsumption?

Even I am too in support but how will they stop the crooks who drive the LPG business from creating a completely black economy of LPG cylinders. How will they monitor this and how would they verify that a household has used six cylinders of their quota? Given the bunch of robbers that run our country I am pretty sure that most of the law abiding folks like us might not see even one of those subsidized cylinder which will be pilfered by the crooks that run these businesses and will be selling our subsidized cylinders in the black market .

Politicians of course will get their full quota of their subsidized cylinders I am sure the limit remains there or not. .

Originally Posted by Vid6639

I just hope that this Rs.5 price increase keeps everyone quiet now. This should be some long term plan. Customers are left hanging between petrol and diesel cars and manufacturers don't know whether to concentrate on petrol or diesel because of undecisive govt. policies.

Raise the price by Rs.5 and declare no deregulation on diesel and be done with it for the next few years.

The lion's share of the taxes on diesel are being pocketed by the various state governments. The center's share is very little. It is on account of compensating for these taxes that these OMCs pay to the state governments is what the diesel subsidy brouhaha all about. Now given the center has categorically stated that they are reducing this compensation to the OMCs by Rs 5 which the OMCs will be recovering by raising the prices. Now it is very likely that the various state governments can very well reduce the taxes that they collect on diesel to offset the price rise which is the only thing that we should hope for to keep the inflation on check. That is because this is for sure a golden opportunity for this country run by middlemen to raise prices arbitrarily and pocket higher profits.

[manikjeet]

These hartals will be happening this is worse decision ever made by this great government. Everything is dependent on Diesel. every item is transported on a diesel truck. Simple take example of sugar its rs 42/kg it will touch rs 50 in no time now

[RS_DEL]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

I just hope that this Rs.5 price increase keeps policies.

Raise the price by Rs.5 and declare no deregulation on diesel and be done with it for the next few years.

Wow! Why no deregulation? Could you share your rationale for that please?

A desired move.

The triple Cs' aka cerebrally challenged cretins who rule India have made a royal mess of the entire energy pricing game. This move has come in no small measure due to the negative perception of this government in international financial circles - which could have hurt India beyond what most can imagine. I just hope this government has the spine to stick to their decision.

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

Even I am too in support but how will they stop the crooks who drive the LPG business from creating a completely black economy of LPG cylinders. How will they monitor this and how would they verify that a household has used six cylinders of their quota? Given the bunch of robbers that run our country I am pretty sure that most of the law abiding folks like us might not see even one of those subsidized cylinder which will be pilfered by the crooks that run these businesses and will be selling our subsidized cylinders in the black market .

Politicians of course will get their full quota of their subsidized cylinders I am sure the limit remains there or not. .

Morons have gone back to licence raj of the 1970s. Now they will form squads of Dhobles to come knock on each door and check who has been using more than 6 cylinders. Anyone who objects to this midnight raids will be behind bars and tried for sedition.

I am more worried on the indirect impact on diesel price hikes. I forsee a hike in the below items. Please add on if you wish
1) Food, vegetables, fruits
2) Basic commodities
3) All manufactured goods, due to increased transportation costs
4) Mobile bills (due to usage of gensets to power towers)
5) Apartment mantainance bills. Because gensets are used for UPS
6) Cab fares
7) Bus fares
8) Mall entry charges, parking charges (how to recover cost of running a mall)
9) Movie ticket charges (just need a reason to hike prices)
10) Airline tickets and airport charges (cost increases)
11) Courier company charges hikes
12) Rail fare increases (most is run on diesel anyways)
13) Doctors fees, accountant fees, school fees, gym fees all would be hiked.

Phew!!!!

[SunilM]

A long overdue move. The government has no money of its own - it just taxes people. So it is foolish to increase tax on middle class and subsidize fuel! I am sure nobody wants us go go Greece way.

Hopefully they have the guts to stick to their guns and not cave under pressure from allies.

[snkjr]

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

Morons have gone back to licence raj of the 1970s. Now they will form squads of Dhobles to come knock on each door and check who has been using more than 6 cylinders. Anyone who objects to this midnight raids will be behind bars and tried for sedition.

Not really, the number of cylinders you 'purchase' is public information. LPG companies have been maintaining transparency portals with this data for quite some time now. As an example, please see http://indane.co.in/transparency/

[samarjitdhar]

Originally Posted by snkjr

Not really, the number of cylinders you 'purchase' is public information. LPG companies have been maintaining transparency portals with this data for quite some time now. As an example, please see http://indane.co.in/transparency/

While this looks so beautiful on paper who is updating this data? It is the distributor who is sending this data based on which this data shows up. It may be very well that one day I suddenly see that I have consumed all the 6 cylinders of my subsidy quota while I only ordered 1. Where is the power in my hand to have such corruption redressed? I am sorry to say that most of these transparency initiatives including the RTI has been hijacked by the government and diluted to such an extent that it has just become a mockery now. This 6 cylinder rule while well intention-ed should have come in with a very strict vigilance mechanism that would help the consumers to resolve disputes. Also a mechanism to ensure that spurious consumers do not game the system has to be put in.

Actually the middle class is a straw man argument that everybody uses when it comes to LPG. A lot of LPG is currently pilfered where domestic LPG is redirected for commercial use by a lot of small and medium businesses in the disorganized sector. I am sure the corrupt agents and the distributors are now salivating at the buck they will make by diverting the subsidized cylinders in the black market.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by RS_DEL

Wow! Why no deregulation? Could you share your rationale for that please?

Well increasing diesel prices also hit commodities and will have a domino effect. Something which other industries will try to leverage. Resulting in overall inflation.

Everyone knows dual pricing scheme is not possible as it will lead to even more corruption and is not even feasible to implement. It shouldn't even be tried in India as it will lead to complete black market for diesel.

This debate has been going on for long enough. With a Rs.5 increase and additional price hike for diesel cars, the difference which was earlier 80-90K between petrol and diesel has increased to more than 1.5lakhs. Isn't that enough deterrent?

People will still buy diesel cars only to see lower expenses when they fuel up but that doesn't mean that every diesel car owner is at an advantage. He might have really stretched to fit in a diesel and it may not even pay off for him.

Deregulation of diesel will only kill the automobile industry which are already in a coma for the past few months.

I'm all for the price hike but this has to stop somewhere. Govt. is just looking at all places to tax the public.