Petrol dealers from the state would not buy new stocks from the oil companies for three days beginning Wednesday, said Federation of Gujarat Petroleum Dealers' Association (FGPDA) joint secretary Arvind Thakkar.

If no solution were in sight after that, then for the next 15 days, petrol pumps would do business only during 9 am-5 pm, he said.

The protest follows the decision taken in Tuesday's general meeting of the federation that includes dealers of all the four public sector oil firms, Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum and IBP.

Dealers' demands include increasing the rate of commission from 70 paise per litre to Rs. 2, compensation of losses sustained by the dealers due to evaporation of petrol during transport and also the differential rates of payment to petrol transporters, according to federation president Kiran Patel.

"If none of our demands is met after these 15 days, we will think of taking serious action," Thakkar said.

He said that representations had been made to Union Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar who had assured of positive action, but to no avail.

--Indo-Asian News Service