Commercial LPG price hike angers city hoteliers

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Oil marketing companies Bharat Petroleum, Indian Oil and Hindustan Petroleum have withdrawn discounts on commercial liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) with effect from November 8, leaving hoteliers in dire straits.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Hoteliers Association (BBHA) has written to the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, seeking a reversal on the order as it means massive losses to the sector. With regard to the cancellation, Hindustan Petroleum said it received complaints from a few markets that commercial LPG was being sold at cheaper rates in comparison with the price of domestic LPG.

They have justified their move and said that it was ideal to streamline the discounts on the cost of nondomestic LPG. Hoteliers have said that it is not possible for the cost of commercial LPG to be lesser and that they are not aware of the reason behind the revoking.

They would receive a maximum discount of Rs 200 per cylinder. While the discount might seem like a small amount of money, when considered annually and at a time of high inflation, it makes a huge difference.

“Even with the current circumstances, we have decided not to raise the prices of our commodities and make our customers pay the brunt. We are going to discuss the issue with the concerned officials and will also stage lawful protests if we cannot come to a common ground,” said P C Rao, President of BBHA.

The hotel association has said that commercial LPG is largely used by the hotel industry as the discount can be availed only through bulk orders received from distributors. They added that while the GST on commercial LPG was 18%, it is only 5% on domestic. They suggested that both should be made equal.