Lakhs of vehicle owners in metropolitan cities and major towns will now have to shell out Rs.3 to Rs.4 a litre more for "buying petrol and diesel' as State-run Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have "decided' to sell only expensive "branded premium fuel' at these places. The move, which probably has the blessings of the Petroleum Ministry, comes after the continued refusal of the government to hike prices of petro products despite repeated representations by the OMCs and the skyrocketing crude oil prices in the international markets, which touched a record $128 per barrel on Monday. This measure comes close on the heels of the OMCs deciding to "freeze' issuing of new LPG connections and fixing a quota of one cylinder a month per family to curtail their losses due to the high subsidy for these petroleum products. Petrol pump dealers are up in arms against the move and have threatened to go on indefinite strike from next month. "The government has refused to hike the fuel prices so we have decided to sell only branded fuel in 19 cities across the country. This would be further expanded to cover all major townships and cities and could even include rural belts later. This way we are able to realise Rs.3 to Rs.4 more per litre of petrol and diesel and reduce our losses,' a senior OMC official stated. The Indian Oil Corporation, the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited are selling only their respective branded fuels such as