Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Fuel duties

The reported move by the oil marketing companies to curtail fuel supplies is grave. The reported statement by the IOC chairman on impending queues outside petrol bunks will create panic. Curtailing fuel should be done only during times of national emergency.

Thomas Mankudiyil,

Kottayam

A stage has been reached where it is wishful thinking to expect the crude prices to revert to below $50-a-barrel or even $100-a-barrel. One is surprised at the government’s reluctance to lower the duties on fuel as transportation is a basic human need.

A more realistic and moderate way to tax fuel would be would be for the State governments to bring it under the purview of VAT.

The Centre should realise that there is no meaning in levying high rates of duties and then subsidising them.

With each passing year, the government finds revenues from newer sources. Accruals from the service tax have been phenomenal in the last few years.

Just as the common man should realise that the age of cheap fuel is over, the government should accept that the age of earning revenue from fuel is over.

Kamil Mohammed,

Aluva

Rather than burdening the common man, who is struggling to deal with the rise in prices of food and various basic commodities, the government should explore the option of taxing the “windfall profits” of oil companies (as the Communist parties suggest). This is an option being considered in various countries.

Ramadoss Magesh,

Chennai

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