The decision may now lead to the withdrawal of strike called by the association on June 30. “We held a talk with oil companies. They have made a commitment that branded oil will not be forced on us. We are satisfied with the outcome and might consider withdrawing the strike,” said Jaydeb Sarkar, general secretary, West Bengal Petroleum Dealers’ Association.

The final decision will, however, depend on the outcome of Wednesday’s meeting between the association and State Transport Minister Subhas Chakraborty, when the former will discuss the issue of short supply of oil with the minister. The association had claimed that the oil companies had not been supplying the earmarked amount of oil to the retail outlets in the state.

Branded fuel is a variant of regular fuel that is spiked up with additives to give better efficiency and lower emission to vehicles. Priced higher than normal fuel, all the major oil companies sell the branded fuel under different brand names. While the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (ioc) sells the fuel under the brand name “Extra Premium”, the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum sell it under the brand names “Power” and “Speed”. The price of branded fuel is not government-controlled and is linked to global market prices.

According to general secretary of the association, “Sales had dropped drastically as consumers were reluctant to pay up the higher prices.”