more-in The recurrent hikes in the prices of petrol and diesel in the last four years has dealt a severe blow on the transportation industry. The free hand given to the oil companies to revise the prices on a daily basis has hit the industry hard, transporters say. Ponting out that the frequent hikes ranged between 10 and 20 paise a litre, while the occasional reduction has been less than 5 paise a litre, they say that the average customers fail to understand the rationale followed while doing the daily revision and ‘the high taxation in Andhra Pradesh when compared to other States is adding to the woes further. Revenue loss The State government is said to be losing ?400 crore per annum year as inter-State lorry drivers are getting their fuel tanks filled in the neighbouring States like Telangana where the taxes are less. Further, the rise in oil price has a cascading effect on the prices of essential commodities adding burden to the common man. “The steep increase in diesel prices has hit lorry operators badly. The taxes in AP are much higher than that of Telangana and Kerala,” says M. Janakirama Reddy, vice-president, AP Lorry Owner’s Association. The price of diesel, which was ?61.96 on May 29 last year, is now ?72.46 a litre in Visakhapatnam. The price of petrol which was ?72.17 on May 29 last year is now ?80.06. Price comparison “On an average, each lorry travels around 400 km a day and the rise in expenditure as a result of the price hike is huge. This apart, toll charges, collection of loading and unloading charges from the operators make the life of lorry owners miserable,” adds Mr. Janakirama Reddy. Drawing a price comparison, A.P. Auto Drivers and Workers’ Federation general secretary (AITUC) Vamana Murthy says the diesel price before the NDA regime was ?31.26 a litre which has gone up to ?73 a litre. “The steep increase is causing undue burden on autorickshaw drivers. The fossil fuel prices used to be revised during the budget in the past. The NDA regime has seen the hikes several times despite the steep fall in the prices of crude oil in global markets from $79 to $ 49 a barrel,” he points out.

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