New Delhi, Sept 01: Truck operators and owners today flayed the hike in diesel prices and said it has been jacked up "artificially". Crude prices were low from April to mid-August but the benefits were not passed on to consumers, the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) said in a statement.
The dismantling of administered price mechanism (APM) helped oil companies whose profits soared last fiscal, it said protesting the diesel price hike by Rs 1.49 per liter.
"The much hyped policy of international price parity and dismantling of internal structured pricing of petroleum products indeed remained a farce," the All India Confederation of Goods Vehicle Owners' Association (ACOGOA) said.
Terming the diesel price hike as a case of cross subsidy, ACOGOA said LPG (cooking gas) and kerosene prices were kept under control due to political compulsions, subsidised by increase in diesel price.

Bureau Report