Delhi Congress questions Arvind Kejriwal's silence on soaring fuel prices

Delhi Congress president Anil Kumar on Saturday wrote to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, demanding reduction in value-added tax (VAT) on fuel prices in the city.

In an official statement, the Delhi Congress said that in his letter Kumar has drawn the CM's attention to people's difficulties due to petrol and diesel price hikes.

“The Delhi Government is collecting Rs 23 from a litre of petrol and Rs 13 from a litre of diesel as VAT which is a betrayal on the people of Delhi. The people of Delhi seek a reply from the Chief Minister for taxing them with higher VAT. Coupled with the high excise duty charged by the Modi Government petrol and diesel have become dearer than ever before in Delhi,” Kumar said in a statement.

The statement quoted Kumar as saying, “Why Delhi Chief Minister was keeping quiet when fuel prices have soared past the roof, and why he was not taking up the matter with the Modi Government to reduce taxes, so that petrol and diesel could be sold in the National Capital at affordable rates.”

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The Delhi Congress social media department has also launched a missed call number (9625777907) and hashtag to invite public response to fuel price hikes.

The hashtags launched by the party are #tel_ka_khel_bandh_karo, #petrol_diesel_me_VAT_ki_loot.

In Delhi, petrol price rose to Rs 100.91 a litre and diesel to Rs 89.88 per litre on Saturday.

Fuel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT and freight charges.

As much as 55 per cent of the retail selling price of petrol in Delhi is made up of taxes (Rs 32.90 a litre excise duty collected by the central government and Rs 22.80 VAT levied by the state government).

Half of the diesel price is made up of taxes (Rs 31.80 central excise and Rs 13.04 state VAT).