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Oil tankers' protest prompts queues at fueling stations (Photo feature)
Long queues of motorcyclists and other vehicles were seen in various fuel stations across the Valley on Sunday due to a fuel crisis as oil tanker operators intensified their protest against a recent amendment to the Petroleum Products Transportation Bylaw which requires them to maintain a minimum fleet size of five tankers.Photos by: Keshav Thapa
Long queues of motorcyclists and other vehicles were seen in various fuel stations across the Valley on Sunday due to a fuel crisis as oil tanker operators intensified their protest against a recent amendment to the Petroleum Products Transportation Bylaw which requires them to maintain a minimum fleet size of five tankers.
They have threatened to stop importing fuel totally if their demand was not addressed by February 27 and have submitted a 15-point demand to Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC).
Tanker drivers have not loaded fuel at Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) depots since Friday after the introduction of amendment.
With this the general people are facing a hard time fueling their vehicles and are bound to stay in long queues.
One of the key demands of the taker operators is that the stipulation concerning the minimum number of tankers should be cancelled, said NOC. A number of oil tanker operators own one to two tankers.
As per the new bylaw, tanker operators will face action if the quantity of their oil cargo differs by more than 0.25 percent upon arrival at NOC depots after being transported from IOC depots.
For instance, if a tanker is carrying 20 kilolitres of gasoline, the claimable loss is 50 litres. This means that if the shipment is short by this amount, tanker operators will not face action. However, if the discrepancy exceeds this limit, they will be fined an amount double the prevailing per unit price of fuel, states the bylaw.