Furtive fuel station owners creating artificial fuel shortages to make a quick buck

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In response to rumors of an increase in petroleum prices, several petrol pump owners on Saturday created an artificial shortage of petrol in city and stopped its sale to mint extra profits by selling the available stock on prices that were likely to be increased later that night.
Many petrol pumps refused to sell petrol by saying that they were out of stock while long queues of vehicles including motorcycles were seen at the few pumps selling a limited quota of fuel. Some petrol pumps limited the fuel’s sale to only motorcyclists. The acute artificial shortage created by the retailers hit motorists and drivers hard and there were fights and heated exchanges at several petrol pumps.
People complained that whenever an increase in fuel prices was expected, fuel station owners created artificial shortages in order to earn higher profits. They said the government did not take action against such fuel stations.
It was reported in the media that the government was about to approve an increase of up to Rs 5.89 per litre in petroleum product prices from September 1.