Fuel prices hold steady across major Indian cities as dealers resist new UPI levy

Retail petrol and diesel prices were unchanged across India's major cities on Saturday, with state-run oil marketing companies holding rates steady at their daily 6:00 AM revision.

In Mumbai, petrol was priced at ₹111.21 per litre, with no change from the previous day. The city's rate has moved only within a narrow band of ₹111.18 to ₹111.21 in recent sessions.

City-wise rates

| City | Petrol (₹/litre) | Diesel (₹/litre) | | --- | --- | --- | | New Delhi | 102.12 | 95.20 | | Mumbai | 111.21 | 97.83 | | Kolkata | 113.51 | 99.82 | | Chennai | 107.77 | 99.55 | | Gurgaon | 102.97 | 95.64 | | Noida | 101.96 | 95.44 | | Bengaluru | 111.68 | 99.56 | | Bhubaneswar | 108.97 | 100.68 | | Chandigarh | 101.54 | 89.47 | | Hyderabad | 116.15 | 104.23 | | Jaipur | 112.66 | 98.25 | | Lucknow | 101.86 | 95.36 | | Patna | 113.37 | 99.36 | | Thiruvananthapuram | 115.49 | 104.40 |

Dealers seek UPI fee exemption

Petrol pump dealers across the country are urging the ministries of finance and petroleum to exempt them from a new Unified Payments Interface transaction fee scheduled to take effect next month.

Dealer associations are objecting to a proposed flat ₹5 merchant discount rate on UPI fuel purchases above ₹2,000. Operators say the charge would squeeze their already thin, fixed per-litre margins.

The additional cost could push some dealers to stop accepting UPI for transactions above the ₹2,000 threshold in order to protect their profitability.

Global oil prices ease

International crude prices have retreated after a sharp run-up. Brent crude touched nearly $110 a barrel earlier in the week, up from a little over $70 in July, and has swung widely since.

On Saturday, oil declined for a third consecutive session as concerns over Middle East supply shifted, with Saudi Arabia pausing some sales to Europe. The benchmark briefly slipped below $102 in overnight trade before recovering most of the loss to settle at $103.87, down 0.9% from the previous day.

Higher crude prices have fed through to US pump prices, with gasoline at $4.47 per gallon, compared with $3.20 a gallon a year earlier. Diesel there stands at a record $6.45 per gallon.

Strait of Hormuz tension

Iran said it struck the Togo-flagged oil tanker Trend over what it called an "illegal attempt" to pass through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday night, according to the state broadcaster, citing the Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The Guard's navy warned that vessels trying to transit the strait without authorisation would face "destruction," the broadcaster said. Tehran has asserted control over much of the waterway since the US and Israel launched the war on 28 February.