In an attempt to regularise fuel price changes and find a balance, petrol and diesel prices will be changed daily in accordance to any changes in the global rates. Though this will not be implemented nationwide immediately, it will be tested out in the regions of Puducherry, Vishakapatnam, Udaipur, Jamshedpur and Chandigarh from May 1, 2017.
Just to make this new development clear, state refiners currently revise fuel prices every fortnight. But according to a PTI report, the prices will now be shifted daily to ensure that the Indian market is in better sync with global prices. The daily changes are meant to take away the abruptness of price changes every 15 days. Till the system is in place throughout the country, public sector retailers will continue with the practice of tweaking prices on the 15th and last day of each month in all other places. "It is technically possible to change rates daily, but we have to first do a pilot. Once the pilot is done and its implications are studied, we will extend it to other parts of the country. Ultimately, we will be driving towards market-linked rates on a daily basis at all pumps across the country," the PTI report quoted IOC chairman B. Ashok as saying.
This practice has been adopted in the US and Japan, while rates are changed weekly in Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and the UK.