Since the government came up with the daily-price-revision rule for the motor fuel based on the international product prices, diesel and petrol prices have been fluctuating on a daily basis. Just talking about diesel, the prices have been consistently over Rs 59 per litre in the last ten days. The prices hit a high of Rs 59.76 per litre on Tuesday. It was only once in October that the diesel prices breached the Rs 59-per-litre mark briefly. State-owned oil companies sold diesel to retail consumers for Rs 59.70 a litre in Delhi on Monday at the highest ever price in the city. In Kolkata and Chennai, diesel prices were the highest since September 2014. In Mumbai, prices were the highest since March 2017. The prices of petrol in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and many other cities were the highest since October 3, 2017, when the central government decided to slash excise duty by Rs 2 on petrol and diesel to shower some relief on the consumers. In the month of October, the government directed companies to stop monthly hikes in prices of cooking gas. Earlier the government effected monthly hikes with an aim to eliminate subsidy on cooking fuel.
Starting June 16 last year, petrol and diesel prices were decided to be changed on a daily basis. This move by the state-owned oil companies marked a departure from the earlier practice of fortnightly revisions of rates. Rates changed every day depending on any movement in international oil rates. Rates changed at 6 am every day depending on movement in cost on the previous day. The prices declared on a daily basis were applicable from 6 am to 6 am the next day. Rates varied from city to city as well as from petrol pump to petrol pump with Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) deciding to follow a marginal differential pricing. Daily revision of retail selling price of petrol and diesel on pilot basis was implemented in Chandigarh, Jamshedpur, Puducherry District, Udaipur and Visakhapatnam from May 1. While petrol price was freed from government control in June 2010, diesel rates were deregulated in October 2014.
