A plea calling upon the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to ensure that the bills issued by petrol/diesel outlets and the display board in the outlets contain the details of the tax levied has been withdrawn from the Madras High Court. [2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 544]

A submission was made before the bench of Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice P Velmurugan seeking leave of court to withdraw the plea. The court permitted withdrawal, with liberty to work out remedy as per law. The court had previously issued notice to the Ministry on the plea.

The petition, filed by Advocate B Ramkumar Adityan, stated that knowing the tax on a product was a part of the consumer's right to information and protection against unfair trade practices, as per the Consumer Protection Act. it has been submitted that the consumers should have all the necessary details to make informed decisions and should not be misled or exploited by sellers.

Adityan further submitted that the rise of fuel prices was a concern for every Indian citizen. He also pointed out that the petrol prices in India varied from across states due to the difference in tax charged.

He added that presently, the petrol bunks of all government and private companies issue bills to customers containing the name of the product, rate per litre, volume of the product and the total amount payable, and do not provide details as to the price chargeable before central and sales tax. He added that the price boards installed in the petrol bunks mentioned only the rate per litre and this was an unfair trade practice and against the consumer's right to know.

Adityan further submitted that though he had sent representations to the Ministry to direct petrol pumps to provide details of tax, the authorities have not acted in the same, prompting him to approach the High Court.