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. 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.
