BIRATNAGAR: The petrol pump entrepreneurs in the Eastern Region have urged the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) — the country’s oil monopoly — to raise the sales commission from the existing 3 per cent to 5 per cent.

The proposal was presented to Digambar Jha, general manager, NOC,

by Purbanchal Dealers Association at a programme on Wednesday. Arabinda Sharma,spokesperson of the association, said that the existing commission was under par to the size of investment in running a petrol pump and paying salaries to the employees.

He also said that they had proposed for the hike

as they had to bear loss due to fuel evaporation, insurance cost and transportation cost.

The entrepreneurs have also demanded the NOC for smooth supply of petroleum products. Some entrepreneurs lamented that they had to bear the loss as NOC failed to supply fuel time and on.

Responding to the entrepreneurs’ proposal, Jha said that NOC would look into the issues. Jha said that the NOC had plans for large scale storage facilities in the region to solve the scarcity.

The storage facilities constructed a decade ago cannot even sustain the demand for a week in the region, the entrepreneurs complained.

The entrepreneurs also complained that the measuring technique at the NOC depots was traditional.

Jha assured that NOC would soon build a calibration tower and a well-facilitated rest room in the regional office premises. A computerised billing system to ease the process and save time would be introduced soon, he added.

Meanwhile, Jha inaugurated Jayshree Tirupati Automobiles, the only petrol pump run by a cooperative in the eastern region, in Biratnagar-5.

Speaking at the inauguration function, Jha said that NOC had launched a campaign against corruption and took action against 24 corrupt staffers recently.

Adjustment in the prices would be made in time so as to discourage adulteration of diesel and petrol, he added.