The Hindu Business Line : Save yourself from heartache at petrol pumps

AFTER the latest hike in fuel prices, with a litre of petrol crossing Rs 40, it looks as if we may soon be paying at roughly the dollar rate. It is therefore with some anger that I read a mail from Harikesh (not his real name), a local friend who is now in the US, vacationing with his children, and advising all of us to lower consumption in the face of fuel price hike.

"Let there be more taxes on cars," he writes. "Also, let them abandon the idea of producing the dream car with a price-tag below one-lakh, else everybody will be junking two-wheelers and switching over to Tata ki gaadi." Before responding to him, I check the retail price of petrol in the US and the site www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/info_glance/petroleum.html informs: $1.91 per gallon (that is, 3.785 litres). So, I send a mail to Hari: "And I know your grandson in California comforts his granny when paying $2 for curry leaves, say, at a local Indian store - `Paati, don't convert into Indian rupees. Think of one dollar as equal to one rupee.'" And that saves the paati from heartache.

Similarly, when at the petrol bunk and paying through your bleeding nose, save yourself some heartache by not thinking about retail petrol prices in the US. However, let us not be under any illusion that our prices are pegged to international levels. Have you ever wondered why nobody tells us the components of what you pay per litre of petrol? Some say, it's rocket science involving too many duties and levies, taxes and subsidies, and so we won't understand even if told.

There should be some help on the Web site of the Ministry of Petroleum, you guess. Yes, there is! The citizens' charter is on http://petroleum.nic.in/cit.htm and if you click `pricing', it would show: "Correct Price: Always check the selling price of products which the dealer is required to display prominently at the outlet. Please ensure that you take a cash memo for every purchase. This will help us take appropriate action against the erring dealer, whenever required." Bah, as if we didn't know. So, here's my practical tip: Always check the selling price and check if you have enough cash on you!

Let us move over to a burning problem: banks. One went under, another is returning to pavilion. One reader asks, "Is it good news that they are going to bundle up Rs 9,000 crore NPAs and give it to a trust?"

I reply, "Trust me, it is! Simply because it would be out of sight, and so out of your mind too." While that could comfort one in the short-run as a quick palliative, it pains to even visualise such a big hole in our economy. And it is only one of the gaping holes. This one will be called SASF, sounding like some special action surprise force but is `Stressed Assets Stabilisation Fund'. Does that take some stress off your mind? It should, because the option in these cases is either abrupt amputation or sure death.

We have seen how students argued before the court, how their parents got bashed up by striking advocates and so on. The day's news is about the court cracking the whip and banning all forms of agitations by advocates as also the use of indecorous language. A silver lining beyond black coats, shall we say, to redeem us from those who took law in their hands?

E&OE@thehindu.co.in

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