Monday, June 20 2005 10:13 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Almost all petrol pumps across the country today (Jun 20, 2005) went on a daylong strike to press for hike in commission on sale of petrol and diesel even as handful of company-owned outlets tried to meet fuel needs of the people.

The 24-hour strike, called by Federation of All India Petroleum Traders (FAIPT), began at midnight last night (Jun 19, 2005).

Besides, company-owned-company-operated sites, which constitute 10 percent of the over 25,000 petrol stations in the country, bunks of private firms like Reliance, Essar and Shell operated today.

"The strike is total. We have shown our solidarity," FAIPT president Ashok Badhwar told PTI in New Delhi.

FAIPT is demanding an increase in dealer commission to five per cent from 1.59 per cent on petrol and 1.27 per cent on diesel currently.

Badhwar said the pump owners will go on an indefinite strike from next month (July) if their demands were not met.

All but 24 petrol pumps out of the 375 petrol stations in Delhi were closed.

"We had stocked up the company-owned retail outlets during the past two days. We anticipate some rush but there are adequate quantities to meet a day's requirement," an official of the Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) said.