India News | Maha: Petrol Pump Owners in Aurangabad Demand to Lift Timing Curbs

Aurangabad, Aug 2 (PTI) Operators of petrol pumps in Aurangabad in Maharashtra on Monday demanded that current restrictions on timings imposed because of the COVID-19 pandemic be lifted immediately to help them tide over a financial crisis.

Petroleum dealers are facing a financial crisis and the fear of workers losing jobs is looming, an office-bearer of Petroleum Dealers Association (PDA) told PTI.

As per the COVID-19 restrictions, 18 of the total 30 petrol pumps in Aurangabad city can operate till 4 PM every day, he said.

PDA secretary Aqeel Abbas said 12 of these 30 outlets are allowed to operate round-the-clock.

"Among these 12 outlets, three pumps are run by government agencies (police and petroleum companies) who don't have to face any financial burden like other dealers. Despite being under financial stress, other dealers have been cooperating with the government for the last two years.

"We have not retrenched our workers and are paying them full salaries even though our sales dropped by nearly 60 per cent due to the timing restrictions. Now there is fear that workers at these pumps might lose jobs. We demand normalcy in our trade. We demand that the administration allows us to operate as per our routine timings," Abbas said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)