Fuel stations will have a weekly off on Sundays from May 14, 2017, in seven states and one Union territory. The decision to keep fuel pumps closed for 24 hours every Sunday has been taken by the consortium of Indian petroleum dealers in response to the Prime Minister’s call to conserve oil as well as the environment during his recent ‘Mann ki baat’ programme.

The seven states in question are Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Haryana and the one Union territory is Puducherry. Fuel stations will still be staffed by one worker in order to provide fuel in cases of emergencies.

This move will affect a combined number of almost 20,000 outlets in the eight states and Union territories. While oil marketing companies have still not issued an official response to the same, the corresponding decline in sales is bound to hurt them at least slightly.