SC dismisses KSRTC's plea alleging oil companies' excessive rates
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition filed by Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) alleging that oil companies are charging excessive rates from large consumers.
The court, a bench comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan, dismissed the petition and said that it was not a matter for it to interfere. If the rates of public sector oil companies are high, the court asked why it is not going for other options.
The court also said that KSRTC's demand to know the method by which public sector oil companies determine diesel prices for bulk purchasers is excessive. Senior advocate PV Dinesh and advocate Deepak Prakash, appearing for KSRTC, argued that public sector oil companies are charging up to Rs 21 extra per litre of diesel.
In 2015, KSRTC and public sector oil companies entered into an oil price agreement. The price policy was changed unilaterally while this agreement was in force. KSRTC pointed out that it could not resort to arbitration-like proceedings against this. The Supreme Court also criticized the High Court single bench that ruled that diesel should be provided to KSRTC at market price. According to the top court, the high court has no role in determining the price of diesel.
