The Congress on Friday said that the Union government’s excise cuts on petrol and diesel would not translate into immediate relief for consumers or dealers, asserting that the benefit remains largely notional.
The government has reduced the excise duty on petrol to Rs 3 per litre and removed the levy entirely on diesel. However, the Opposition party argued that the move does not affect retail fuel prices.
The party’s media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said, "If you saw the headlines about petrol and diesel prices 'coming down' and thought the government had offered relief to your pocket, you'd be mistaken."
He said that, at present, prices remain unchanged for both dealers and consumers.
"What has actually been reduced is the 'special additional excise duty' - a levy paid by Oil Marketing Companies to the government. The words 'special' and 'additional' reveal how unnecessary this tax is," Khera said in a post on X.
He added that public sector oil marketing companies have been absorbing losses since the escalation of tensions in West Asia.
"The government has now merely agreed to share a small part of that burden but reducing the 'special additional' levy - that too almost a month later," he said.
"Relief exists but only in the narrative, not in reality. Instead of manufacturing headlines and fooling people, the government should focus on delivering actual relief to consumers," he added.
The excise duty revision, notified by the Finance Ministry today, brought down the levy on petrol from Rs 13 per litre to Rs 3, while diesel was exempted from the duty, which earlier stood at Rs 10 per litre. The revised rates came into effect immediately.
India imports nearly 88 per cent of its crude oil requirements and about half of its natural gas, with a significant portion transported through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.