Scrap Excise Duty, VAT On Petrol, Diesel: TPCC

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson G Niranjan on Sunday demanded that the central and state governments withdraw the excise duty and VAT on petrol and diesel.

"The common man who was burdened all these years with heavy fuel prices due to rises in the international crude oil prices should benefit proportionately from the fall in prices in the international market. It is unfortunate that the central and state governments are not willing to transfer these benefits to him. The increases in excise duty and VAT on petrol and diesel by the central and state governments respectively are totally unjustified," Niranjan said.

Niranjan alleged that due to the "mischief" of the central and state governments, the consumer was getting a benefit of only 63 paise on petrol and 54 paise on diesel per litre, although the oil companies had reduced the prices by more than Rs 4 on each litre of petrol and diesel on 16th January.

"The BJP which had always criticized the UPA government for the increases in fuel prices is now not willing to provide relief to the consumers totally. It is unfortunate that in competition with the central government, the Telangana government has also imposed a sales tax surcharge of Rs 2 per litre on petrol and diesel in addition to the existing VAT of 31% and 22.25% respectively. We demand that both the governments withdraw the additional levies immediately," he said. (INN)