Email
Print
ShareMumbai: The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Commission has come down heavily on the public sector unit (PSU) fuel companies for foisting 'enhanced performing fuels with additives' on the public, which do nothing to help fuel efficiency.
Passed in Delhi a few weeks ago, the order states that despite being given repeated chances to prove their case, the fuel companies could not produce any evidence to show that adding certain chemicals to petrol and diesel gave any benefits to the consumers. On the other hand, the fuel companies made handsome profits on these products by charging Rs2-3 extra for these fuels from the unsuspecting public.
The commission was hearing a complaint from an individual who had queried the very basics of the presumptuous ads by fuel companies, claiming that engine performance was boosted, mileage increased, and wear and tear was reduced by using certain 'premium' brands of fuels which were sold by all PSU fuel companies. The ads claimed that in addition to improving mileage, the fuel was easier on engines and contained substances that increased engine life. Interestingly, none of the fuel companies revealed what the substances were neither their costing.
While making this observation, the MRTP Commission stopped short of issuing a `cease and desist' order against the companies marketing such fuels. Consequently, the various oil companies are laughing all the way to the bank, while the poor motorist shells out extra money for what is a product of dubious or no value.
The oil sector cannot be blamed entirely for this fiasco. Burdened by heavy demands for selling their products at a heavy subsidy, every gimmick that adds to their finances is a welcome addition. At the height of oil prices peaking in the world, many companies had reduced supply of regular fuel to petrol pumps, forcing motorists to buy the premium quality fuels at extra price. While fuel technologists and scientists have always been sceptical of the value additives to fuel (on the grounds that if this was true then all fuels should have additives as a natural corollary), the blatant selling of these fuels even two months after the indictment by the MRTP Commission comes as a shock.
While the government talks of austerity drives, it finds nothing wrong in pulling a fast one on the consumer who uses highly expensive and highly taxed fuel. It is time for the MRTP Commission to review its own order and pass a 'cease and desist' mandate on oil companies.
