Prices of petrol and diesel have increased by up to 83 paise since the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections ended on May 19.

On Tuesday, May 28, a litre of petrol was priced at Rs 71.86 in Delhi, up from Rs 71.03 on May 19. A litre of diesel cost Rs 66.69 in the national capital, up from Rs 65.96 on May 19.

Petrol price in Mumbai rose from Rs 76.64 per litre on May 19 to Rs 77.47 on Tuesday. The price of diesel increased from Rs 69.11 per litre to Rs 69.88.

In Chennai, the petrol price on Tuesday was Rs 74.59 per litre, up from Rs 73.72 on May 19. A litre of diesel cost Rs 70.50, as against Rs 69.72 on the day of the last phase of polls.

Kolkata too saw a similar rise in petrol and diesel prices. On Tuesday, a litre of petrol in Kolkata cost Rs 73.92, 81 paise higher than Rs 73.11 on May 19. A litre of diesel, on the other hand, was priced at Rs 68.45, up from Rs 67.71

State-owned retailers like Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited had stopped revision of fuel prices during the Lok Sabha polls, which lasted from April 11 to May 19. This meant that the companies did not pass on the increase in fuel prices to consumers, industry sources told PTI.

In the past too, fuel retailers have stalled oil price revisions during elections. Last year, fuel prices had remained the same for 19 days ahead of the Karnataka Assembly polls. Oil companies were estimated to have incurred losses of about Rs 500 crore as international oil rates spiked and the rupee fell against the US dollar. The prices were not revised for almost 14 days ahead of Assembly elections in Gujarat in December 2017.

Fuel prices are supposed to be revised every day in India as per the dynamic pricing system introduced in June 2017. The new system did away with the 15-year-old practice of revising the price of petrol and diesel every fortnight as per international rates.