OMCs hike dealer commission; no change in petrol, diesel price

State-owned fuel retailers on Tuesday hiked commission paid to dealers on sale of petrol by 65 paise a litre and that on diesel by 44 paise per litre without any change in retail selling price.

They also rationalised intra-state freight that will result in a cut in petrol and diesel prices in several places in states such as Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Himachal Pradesh.

This is the first revision in commission paid to dealers in nearly eight years.

"IndianOil is pleased to announce a revision in the dealer margins (effective from 30th October 2024), following the resolution of a pending litigation. This will have no additional impact on the Retail Selling Price of products," Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) -- the market leader -- said in a post on X.

At present, dealers are paid Rs 1,868.14 per kilolitre, plus 0.875 per cent of produce billable price, as commission on petrol. The same on diesel is Rs 1,389.35 per kl plus 0.28 per cent of product billable price.

This will go up Rs 0.65 per litre on petrol and Rs 0.44 a litre on diesel.

The revision, IOC said, will further enhance customer service standards and the welfare of staff employed in retail outlets.

"Further, demonstrating the core value of Nation First, our endeavour to provide affordable petrol and diesel across the length and breadth of the country on a sustainedd basis has come to fruition. #IndianOil has undertaken intrastate rationalisation of freight which will reduce variation of retail selling price of product across various markets within a state, except in geographies where Model Code of Conduct is in place," IOC said.

Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri welcomed the intra-state freight rationalisation which he said will "benefit consumers located at remote locations (far from petrol and diesel depots of oil marketing companies) which will result in a decrease in petrol and diesel prices in several parts of the country. (Decision in poll-bound states and constituencies will be implemented later)".

In a post on X, he cited the example of Kunanpally and Kalimela in Odisha's Malkangiri where petrol price will reduce by Rs 4.69 and Rs 4.55, respectively; and diesel rates will be cut Rs 4.45 and Rs 4.32, respectively.

Similarly, prices will reduce by Rs 2.09 in petrol price and Rs 2.02 in diesel price in Chhattisgarh's Sukma.

Rates will also be cut in Bijapur, Bailadila, Kateykalyan, Bacheli, and Dantewada of the state.

Similarly, prices will also be cut in several places in Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Mizoram.

"The dealer commission increase will provide better services to approximately 7 crore citizens who visit our fuel retail outlets in the country everyday, without increasing fuel prices," he said.

"The fulfilment of this demand pending for the last 7 years will bring joy and happiness in the lives of petrol pump dealers and nearly 10 lakh staff working at more than 83,000 petrol pumps across the country." Ajay Bansla, President of All India Petroleum Dealers' Association, welcomed the decision saying it will help meet a part of the increase in cost of running petrol pumps over the past eight years.

"This revision comes after seven years and eight months. We welcome it," he said, adding that the dealers have withdrawn a legal case they had filed against the oil companies over oil companies enforcing marketing discipline guidelines.

The dealer commission revision has happened following the withdrawal of the court cases.