Unhappy LPG dealers press govt for more commission KATHMANDU, JUL 04 - Unhappy with a recent revision of their commission, dealers of liquefied petroleum gas ( LPG ) have continued to mount pressure on the government and the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) for further hike. Based on recommendation of the Nepal LPG Industry Association (N LPG IA)—association of the LPG bottlers—that fixes commission to their sales agents or dealers, the government had recently hiked commission collectively by Rs 19.28 per cylinder. The latest revision has increased commission to Rs 32 per cylinder for dealers and Rs 30 for bottlers. However, the dealers remain dissatisfied with the adjustment and have threatened to stop selling LPG —popularly known as urban cooking fuel. They have demanded that commission should be hiked by five percent of their total investment. The federation has warned that it would start protest from July 5 if the government failed to address its demand by Thursday. “The revised commission cannot cover our increasing costs—house rent, labour cost, among others,” said GDFN’s spokesman Bibendra Bhakta Pradhananga. “That’s why we have demanded the commission be fixed on the basis of our capital investment in the gas business.” With the latest hike means an additional Rs 250 million loss a month for the NOC. The debt-ridden oil supplier owes Rs 28.50 billion in loans to the government and different banks and financial institutions. Besides raising the commission, the dealers have also demanded the waiver of the value added tax (VAT) and simplifying of the tax system in the sector. Their other demands include proper management of the gas dealers, insure safety of the LPG entrepreneurs and implementation of the use of plastic temper seal in the gas cylinder. They have also raised concern over dealers being blamed for low weight LPG cylinder in the market. The dealers argued that they have been unneccessarily blamed for low weight although bottlers refill the LPG cylinder. “We will be compelled to launch protest if the government ignores our demands,” said Gyaneshore Aryal, coordinator of the struggle committee formed to press the government. “Either the government should prove that our demands are baseless or it should address them,” he added. Source: The Kathmandu Post
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 13:19:14 +0000
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