Citizens continue to reel under rising fuel prices

Bengaluru: The fuel price remains unchanged for five days in a row. The price of petrol is at Rs. 111.09 and diesel at Rs. 94.79. The fuel prices were last hiked by 80 paise per litre on the April 6. Since March 22, there has been an increase in the cost of fuel for about 14 times and the price of petrol has gone up by Rs. 10 over the last few days. This has left an impression on many other industries in an enormous way. Vegetable prices have skyrocketed in many parts of the country due to the cost of transportation which in turn leads to the hike in fuel prices.

Although the price of green chillies has dropped down to Rs. 60-70 per kg today, the price had shot up to Rs. 120 per kg during the last week in Bengaluru. "Green chillies have been short in supply since a month and the sales have been reduced along with the profit we gain, as the cost of transporting vegetables has increased. This has forced us to sell vegetables at a higher price," says a local vendor.

Many companies are also planning to end the work from home system and call the employees back to offices. As numerous employees are complaining about commuting due to the rise in fuel prices and the never-ending traffic, several companies have chosen the hybrid system of working where the employees can work from home for a few days and work from office on the other days.

"The major problem is commuting amidst the traffic in Bengaluru. Start-ups or mid-level companies do not face any difficulties considering the cost of commuting, nevertheless, the ones who are being affected by this vastly are people from regular middle-class and lower-income families, as the cost of daily essentials are directly proportional to the hike in fuel prices," says Jayanth B.P, an employee of Tonbo Imaging.

"Because I stay far from my workplace, it is extremely difficult to get stuck in traffic and commute for 2-3 hours every day. Besides, the cost of commuting is a hindrance for most of the mid-level and start-up companies as they cannot provide arrangements for transportation," states another employee.