Tanker alliance seeks hike in freight rates
KATHMANDU, JAN 07 -
The Federation of Nepal Petroleum Transport Entrepreneurs has decided to step up its demand for a hike in fuel transportation charges and implementation of varied pacts signed earlier.
The alliance of tankers said that it would not receive purchase delivery orders for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from Jan 9 and stop loading and unloading petroleum products nationwide from Jan 11 if their demand was not addressed.
The federation has asked for a 5 percent hike in freight rates. A tanker charges Rs 2,100 per kilolitre for transportation from Raxaul to Kathmandu.
There is an understanding to revise the shipping charges when gasoline prices go up by more than Rs 4 per litre. The federation said that their charges had not been revised since Jan 6, 2012 although diesel and petrol prices have been ramped up several times.
“The federation’s central working committee decided on Sunday to launch a protest to pressurize the government to implement past agreements as soon as possible,” said Khageshore Bohara, president of the federation.
“The fuel transportation cost has not been revised since last year.”
He added that the government had pledged to enforce the pacts made between the federation and Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), but it had not happened.
The alliance of around 1,800 petroleum tankers has issued an 11-point demand.
“Besides revising the transportation cost in line with the increase in the price of diesel, the government should also jack up the transportation cost taking into account other operating costs,” the federation said in a statement on Monday.
Its other demands are increasing the insurance coverage for petroleum workers and making NOC transparent. The federation said that NOC had been providing partial insurance coverage to the workers and has demanded full coverage.
“The agreement to provide full coverage was signed with NOC on Aug 25, 2010, but it has not been implemented,” he added.
The federation’s protest announcement has come against the backdrop of an LPG shortage.
State-owned oil monopoly NOC has defended itself by saying that it has been supplying adequate quantities of LPG, but opportunist traders have created an artificial shortage on speculation prices will rise.
Meanwhile, the federation has formed an eight-member team led by Bohara to hold talks with the government and also formed committees at the regional level to intensify its protest.
Oil is Nepal’s largest import. In 2012-13, the country imported petroleum products worth a staggering Rs 107 billion, up from Rs 92 billion in the previous year.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
