KATHMANDU: Petrol pumps across Nepal have refused to purchase fuel from the Nepal Oil Corporation from Friday morning, protesting the corporation’s decision to cut down the commission the dealers were getting for each litre of the fuel they would sell.
The NOC board on Thursday had decided to cut down the commission. “Following that, they have announced to halt loading fuel from us,” the NOC spokesperson Binit Mani Upadhyaya says, “We have been reported that no stations have bought fuel from our depots across the nation.”
“Every day, we would sell around 700,000 litres of diesel and 900,000 litres of petrol,” an official at the NOC said, that supplies fuel to the Kathmandu valley says, “There might be a crisis in the market once the stations finish the stock they have.”
The strike comes at a time when the NOC is continuously increasing the fuel prices citing the hike in the global market.
On Thursday, Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has hiked prices of petroleum products yet again.
The state-owned monopoly has decided to increase Rs 5 per litre in petrol, diesel and kerosene. The NOC, however, has not increased the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).
According to the new revised rate, the petrol will cost Rs 150 per litre and diesel and kerosene will cost Rs 133.
The NOC has also decided to increase the price of aviation fuel for domestic airlines by Rs 10 and international carriers by $100 per kilo liter.