Dealers of Jio-bp have formed associations to voice their protest against policies of the fuel marketing joint venture between Reliance Industries and British oil and gas major BP Plc that they claimed are plunging their fuel retailing business into losses.
Reliance Industries (RIL) and BP’s fuel and mobility joint venture, Reliance BP Mobility (RBML), operates its fuel stations under the Jio-bp brand.
Jio-bp fuel retailers in the west and the south have formed associations in their respective regions, and have demanded an increase in their commission, regular fuel supply, fuel price parity with PSU retailers, and a clean exit policy.
“Jio-bp has not been paying heed to our demands, so we all decided to come together to form an association,” said a dealer on the condition of anonymity.
“The company says it does not recognise our association,” the person said. “We would still continue to fight for our rights.”
He alleged that the company had committed to increase dealer commission from April this year, but reneged on the same.
Jio-bp did not reply to an email ET had sent on Tuesday till Friday press time, but people aware of its discussions with dealers said the company plans to revise dealer commissions from April 2023.
The company operates 1,488 fuel retail outlets and has around 850 dealers associated with the business.
On March 16, Jio-bp nearly halved fuel supply to its dealers owing to losses of ₹10-12 per litre daily on sale of diesel.
While sources said fuel supply from the company has resumed in full, dealers said it is intermittent. They also allege that the company is not honouring the support package it promised in July.
An industry official aware of the discussions, however, claimed, “The company is taking care of almost 80%-90% of the dealers’ compensation through the support scheme it launched a few months back. A few dealers who have not maintained the required fuel supply obviously fail to receive the benefits.”
He added that in markets that Jio-bp is present in, its dealers make two-and-a-half times more in average sales than dealers of other companies. “So, it is difficult to believe that the dealers are making huge losses. In fact, Jio-bp is expanding and continues to receive interest from new dealers,” the person said.
He said Jio-bp has signed contracts with dealers in their individual capacity and not associations, and the company does not encourage or recognise associations.
Dealers allege the company has not resumed complete fuel supply till date despite per-litre losses on petrol and diesel having narrowed.
This has brought down the pump price differential between state-owned fuel marketers and private retailers. According to the dealers, Jio-bp outlets are selling diesel at a premium of ₹1 per litre vis a vis PSU rivals, and petrol at a premium of ₹2 per litre, depending on their location.
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