HYDERABAD: The day is not far when the common man may have to shell out Rs 100 for a litre of petrol. With fuel prices skyrocketing for the last one-and-a-half months, the cost of petrol in Hyderabad shot up to Rs 92.26/litre and diesel to Rs 86.24 on Sunday — a hike of 30 paise and 34 paise, respectively.
This has left the common man out in the cold, while cab drivers’ associations are crying foul as they are unable to bear the burden.
It was just on February 1 that the petrol price in the city was at Rs 89.77 per litre. Venting out their frustration, commuters demanded that the government roll back the new prices or give relaxations in taxes.
A cloth merchant from Begum Bazar, N Srinivas, termed the rising fuel prices as daylight robbery.
“Fuel is one of the most basic needs and we are afraid that our cost of transport and manufacturing will increase. But we cannot pass on this burden to the consumer as the demand may drop,” he said.
A motorist from Uppal, T Sundar, said, “There is a steep increase in my expenses on transport but my wages are the same.”
T Sundar went on to say that the government should give relaxations in taxes or else it will become difficult for people to survive.
Pranshu Jha (26), an employee at an IT firm, said, “As if the pandemic was not enough, now the government is also adding to our our woes by increasing fuel prices. I use my bike to commute from home to office. My employer has refused to hike my salary this year citing the losses caused by the pandemic. But my landlord insists on increasing the house rent. Now with such high fuel prices, middle-class citizens like me cannot make both ends meet.”
Auto-rickshaw drivers say the burden would break their backs. “The lockdown has been extremely difficult for us; we had no income for over eight months. After all that loss, we are slowly getting back on our feet but the steady rise in fuel rates is only making things worse for us. We may have to go on strike to pressure the government to roll back the hike,” an ACTUC leader said.