Many Indian cities have lately been developing long queues at petrol bunks after rumours of fuel shortage surfaced on social media. Lucknow, Hyderabad, Ujjain, Indore, Bhopal, Ahmedabad, Chennai, and Goa have all been witnessing long queues at fuel stations. If there is really a fuel crisis (read: shortage) remains a different question, but these chaos have given EV owners their much-awaited ‘Hero moment’. In the past few days, many have showed up on social media platforms like Instagram and Youtube with shortform videos that show them flaunting their edge over combustion vehicle owners. Let’s take a look at some of these viral videos.
Like most other cases, Instagrammers have found specific patterns, hooks and narratives to these videos. Here’s a classic example of one such case. In it, the ‘hook step’ is the main character unplugging the EV from its home charger and flexing it on video. This particular clip was shared on the handle craxywithaditi. It starts by showing the creator unplugging an MG Comet from its wallbox charger. She then gets in the car and takes it for a drive. As she passes by petrol bunks, we can see long lines of vehicles waiting for fuel, their owners looking mostly helpless and frustrated.
Another trending format is of EV owners going to fuel stations and dancing while frustrated owners of petrol/diesel vehicles wait in queues. Several examples of this can be seen on social media platforms. The above video is a good example. In it, a man rides his Ather 450 electric scooter into a crowded petrol bunk and parks it there. He then performs some quick dance moves with the vehicle, films it and makes it out of the area.
Here’s another video showing a man dancing to the ‘Shararat’ track from Dhurandhar movie, with his electric scooter parked nearby, at a petrol bunk. Even in this, a big pool of vehicles can be seen waiting for fuel.
There are also creators who have shared milder, less-offensive versions of this trend. Here’s one such example. In it, the creator just stands near his Mahindra BE6, parked at a petrol bunk in Kerala, quietly flexing his electric car while people may still be worrying about fuel.
In another video from Surat, we see a man filming reels with his Ola electric scooter. Initially, the vehicle is seen parked at a crowded petrol bunk. The charging port’s cover is open at this point. The owner is seen moving it playfully even as frustrated combustion engine vehicles wait for fuel at the station. Later, he is seen riding the electric scooter around, showing long queues of two-wheelers at multiple bunks.
Gujarat was one of the most affected by rumours of fuel shortage. Various cities there saw thousands flooding petrol bunks and queues extending to several tens of metres in length. The frenzy was so bad that some bunks had to impose temporary rationing.
It isn’t just original creators who are populating these trends. Even meme pages are flooding social media with ‘EV owners right now’ memes and videos. Interestingly, we have also noticed some charging providers trying to capitalize on the trend. Below is one such video.
So it is indeed true that people in many cities are rushing to fuel stations, leading to long queues. But what’s driving them? What’s fuelling this fuel frenzy? A large part of it seems to be panic buying by vehicle owners. The West Asia war and related crisis have created panic among owners of combustion engine vehicles. Rumours of an unconfirmed fuel shortage surfaced on social media recently. Some even claimed that fuel prices would soon shoot up and touch Rs 500 per litre. These made people panic and rush to bunks to stock up as much as they can.
The Petroleum & Natural Gas Ministry has, however, asked citizens to dismiss rumours, and reassured them that all retail outlets are operating normally across the country. It also said that all refineries are operating at high capacities with adequate crude supplies. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), India’s largest oil firm, also confirmed that there is no shortage of petrol or diesel as of now.
Another reason for long queues was the reported transitioning of Oil marketing companies (OMC) from credit-based to advance payment systems for dealers. The war in West Asia forced this shift. This created temporary logistical gaps which many misinterpreted as ‘shortage’. It remains to be seen if OMCs would return to the credit-based system once things settle down.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently remarked that the West Asian war has impacted fuel supplies across the world. He said that it has also affected our (India’s ) ways of business, but also reassured that we as a country have created 53 lakh metric tonnes of strategic oil reserves in the past 11 years, and work to add another 65 lakh MT is already underway. He has confirmed that India has enough crude oil storage and non-stop supply arrangements in place.
In a more recent instance, the government also dismissed rumours of a ‘potential lockdown due to fuel shortage’. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri have assured that there is no such proposal under consideration. The rumours are ‘baseless’. Puri called them ‘irresponsible and harmful’.
“There shall not be any lockdown. I want to reassure people that there will be no such lockdown as we saw during COVID,”- said Sitaraman. Global crude oil prices have increased sharply in the past few days. To cushion the impact of this on citizens, the government has reduced the excise duties on petrol and diesel. Export duties have also been imposed to ensure domestic availability. This move is expected to prevent fuel price hikes in the near future.
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