more-in Public sector oil companies are ready to change the present two-digit price display at fuel pumps if the petrol price hits ?100 a litre. A spokesperson for Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) said that the system could be changed to three-digit display if required. A communication from IOC last year had said that extensive training had been provided to fuel dealers so that customers did not face any pricing misinformation or glitches after oil marketing PSUs commenced changing fuel prices on a daily basis from June 16, 2017. It had also said that at most of IOC’s automated fuel stations, the daily price was automatically updated centrally across India. However, speaking for petroleum dealers, M. Radharksihnan of the Federation of Petroleum Traders said that barring new generation pumps, the system now could only display the price up to ?99.99 and not beyond. He said that there was a general feeling that the price of petrol would go up to ?100 a litre soon at least for the premium variety, even as the petrol price was ruling at ?84.26 a litre and diesel at ?77.89 a litre. Even as the prices of the fuels were going up steadily, fuel dealers had complained of their increasing requirement for working capital. The requirement for extra mobilisation of money was ?5 lakh to ?9 lakh per load, Mr. Radhakrishnan said. He claimed that the price of petrol had gone up by ?5.65 per litre and diesel by ?6.50 per litre between August 1 and September 17. At the same time, he said, the commission for dealers had not been increased over the past couple of years. There had also been a substantial increase in the labour cost, putting greater pressure on dealers, he said.

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