Daily new petrol, diesel prices to be rolled out in 5 cities from May 1

Oil marketing companies had notified recently that petrol and diesel prices will soon change on a daily basis; the project will start on a pilot basis in five cities - Chandigarh, Udaipur, Vizag, Puducherry, and Jamshedpur - from May 1. 

It will be made countrywide on a later date. However, till the practice is rolled out in the rest of the country, public sector retailers will continue to tweak prices of fuel on the 15th and the last day of every month.

This will help remove the shock of a sudden surge in fuel prices according to overseas geopolitical factors. 

The government deregulated pricing of petrol and diesel in June 2010 and October 2014, respectively. 

Since then, petrol and diesel prices are set by the oil marketing companies according to the international fuel baskets. However, despite this, it's the government that faces the ire when there's an steep upward revision in the price of fuel - both from the people and from the Opposition.