Given that some fuel retail outlet owners have approached the judiciary to appeal against the rule set by oil marketing companies (OMCs) to pay central minimum wages to outlet attendants, the OMCs have moved the Supreme Court seeking to transfer all such petitions to the apex court in New Delhi. “We have asked to move all the petitions to the Supreme Court in New Delhi as we cannot talk to all individuals separately. The court is in the process of considering it,” said a person close to the development requesting not to be named. OMCs increased dealer margins in August and a part of the margin was meant to ensure minimum wages for attendants. Commissions were increased by up to 55% through a formula allocating higher commission per litre to outlets having low sales volume. The revised commission was meant to pay central minimum wages unlike the earlier practice wherein an average of wages fixed by the states was paid and was lower than central pay. However, some fuel retail owners contended that they cannot be forced to pay central minimum pay to attendants under marketing discipline guidelines (MDGs). As per the person quoted above, about 10-12 high courts were approached across the country. “Two-three owners have given stay qua the petitioner, which means they have challenged the MDGs and they cannot be enforced to pay minimum wage,” said the person.
The courts have directed not to take any coercive action against the petitioners which means OMCs cannot act against these individuals. The cases filed with the High Courts of Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Orissa have been petitioned to be moved to the apex court. However, as per an OMC official, around 80% retail outlets are complying with the central minimum wage. There are around 55,000 fuel retail outlets across the country affiliated to the three OMCs — Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum. A dealership agreement flows from the Contracts Act. It mandates certain conditions which dealers need to comply with. As per MDGs, retailers were liable to pay state mandated wages. However, the person quoted above said the condition to pay “minimum wage of a state” does not mean that wages cannot be more than that, as it is the at least which has to be paid. “If OMCs are paying (for higher wages through increased dealer commission), how can they (retailers) say it is illegal? It has to be a pass-through mechanism as they are being compensated for it,” added the person.
