Consumers have not benefitted fully from the Centre's excise duty cut on petrol and the consequent reduction of ₹2.41 by the State due to a 79 paise hike in the base price of the fuel, Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal has said.
With the Centre slashing the excise duty on petrol by ₹8 and the State following suit with a ₹2.41 cut in sales tax, consumers should have benefitted from a total reduction of ₹10.41. However, this did not happen as petrol prices went down by only ₹9.40 in the State, Mr. Balagopal said on Monday.
“This difference is due to a hike in the base price of petrol by 79 paise alongside the cut in the central duty. If the Centre permits such hikes, the advantage from the present cut in the excise duty is bound to vanish in a month and the price will be back to what it was earlier,’‘ Mr. Balagopal said.
“On the other hand, consumers in the State have fully benefitted from the tax cuts by the Centre and the State on diesel,” Mr. Balagopal said. The Centre had slashed the excise duty on diesel by ₹6, which was followed by a ₹1.36 cut in the State.
