Fuel traders and tank-lorry owners went on a 12-hour strike on Monday morning in 15 districts of Khulna division to press home their three-point demand, including hike in commission on fuel sale and readjustment of transport fare following the latest hike in fuel prices. The strike started at 6 am and will continue till 6 pm, said Sheikh Murad Hossain, general secretary of Khulna Divisional Committee of Bangladesh Fuel Distributors Association. Bangladesh Petroleum Dealers, Distributors, Agents and Petrol Pump Owners Association have stopped collection of fuel from Padma, Meghna and Jamuna depots. Read: Fuel price hike: Tank-lorry owners call off strike in Khulna Murad Hossain said this strike is also being observed by stopping fuel collection from the depots of Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions. However, fuel sale from petrol pumps is continuing, he added. The government hiked the prices of fuel by a big margin on August 5. Diesel prices were increased by Tk 34 to Tk 114 per litre, octane by Tk 46 to Tk 135 per litre and petrol by Tk 44 to Tk 130 a litre. The government also recently embarked on rationing of power to tackle the ongoing energy crisis in the country.

Tank-lorry owners called a 24-hour strike from Sunday morning in 15 districts of Khulna division demanding readjustment of transport fare and commission following the latest hike in diesel price. The strike started at 8am and will continue till 8am on Monday, said Md Farhad Hossain, general secretary of Khulna Divisional Committee of Bangladesh Tank-Lorry Owners Association. Bangladesh Tank-Lorry Owners Association and Petrol Pump Owners Association have been observing the strike stopping collection of fuel from Padma, Meghna and Jamuna depots. However, fuel stored in their respective stations is still being supplied. Read: Fuel price hike: Govt raises bus fares At present, a commission of Tk 2.71 per liter of fuel (as per previous rate) is provided to the tank-lorry owners. The owners earlier urged the authorities concerned, including Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) and Ministry of Power Energy and Mineral Resources several times for increasing commission but they did not pay heed to their demand. Now Tank-Lorry Owners Association and Petrol Pump Owners Association are demanding commission  at the rate of 7.5% of the current fuel price. The government hiked the price of fuel oil by a big margin on Friday. Diesel price has been increased by Tk 34 to Tk 114 per litre while octane price hiked by Tk 46 to Tk 135 and petrol by Tk 44 to Tk 130. The new price came into effect from Friday midnight. Earlier, in November last year, the government increased the price of diesel and kerosene by Tk 15 to Tk 80 per litre. As a result, the bus fare was disproportionately increased by around 27 per cent and the launch fare by 35 per cent.

Bangladesh Tank-lorry Owners Association has called an indefinite strike from January 3 across the country to demand that the government allows them to raise transportation fare following recent hike in diesel. General Secretary of Bangladesh Tank-lorry Owners Association, Sheikh Farhad Hossain announced the programme on Tuesday. Read: Petrol pumps owners, tank-lorry workers call off strike “The bus fare increased following the price hike of diesel but no steps have been taken yet to raise the fare of tank-lorry. So, we have decided to enforce an indefinite strike from January 3,” he said. Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has increased the fares for intra-city and inter-district buses by over 26 per cent and 27 per cent respectively as demanded by the bus owners. The decision came at a meeting between the BRTA and the bus owners on November 7. Read: Tank-lorry workers call off strike after 2 days The government on November 3 raised the prices of diesel and kerosine at the retail level. As per the new price, the fuel is now selling at Tk 80 per litre instead of Tk 65. It said the prices of other petroleum products will remain unchanged.

As if taking a clue from the public transports, the petrol pump and tank-lorry owners are now demanding that the government raises commissions on fuel sales and transportation fares following the recent hike in fuel prices. According to sources in the re-fuelling business, the leaders of the Bangladesh Petrol Pump and Tank-Lorry Owners Workers Unity Council, a representative body of the both operators and workers, held a meeting on November 14 to negotiate the demand with the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC). But the meeting ended inconclusively, the sources said. Read: Fuel prices hiked in line with global market: PM “But no concrete decision has come from the meeting as the BPC took time to hold an inter-ministerial meeting to take opinions from the other ministries concerned”, said Nazmul Haque, president of the unity council, also the president of Bangladesh Petrol Pump Owners Association (BPPOA) which also held separate meeting with the BPC on the same issue . He, however, informed that a 12- point demand of the unity council was placed to the BPC. The organisation has been urging the government for long to meet their demands. “But the latest phase of fuel price rise has pushed us into to an unbearable situation,” he told UNB. Read Reduce fuel prices to facilitate economic recovery: BGMEA Nazmul said they will go for action programme to realise their demands if the BPC fails to raise their commissions within a week or two. The government raised the prices of diesel and kerosene to Tk 80 per litre from Tk 65 with effect from November 4 this month.