Lanka IOC Fuel Prices Were NOT increased on 7th or 18th May Midnight!
Update 18/05/22: Lanka IOC Managing Director Manoj Gupta confirmed that the social media posts claiming that Lanka IOC would increase fuel prices from midnight today (May 18) are untrue. This was confirmed by Sri Lanka’s Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera as well. A news item circulated on social media saying that Lanka Indian […]
Update 18/05/22:
Lanka IOC Managing Director Manoj Gupta confirmed that the social media posts claiming that Lanka IOC would increase fuel prices from midnight today (May 18) are untrue. This was confirmed by Sri Lanka’s Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera as well.
A news item circulated on social media saying that Lanka Indian Oil Company would increase fuel prices again from the midnight of 7th May. However, we found these were to be false alarms and that fuel prices remain same as of 07th May midnight.
Social Media Posts
Social media posts claimed that prices of IOC fuel prices were set to increase from 07th May midnight. The new fuel prices were mentioned as Petrol Octane 92 Rs. 505, 95 octane Rs. 517, petrol Euro 3- Rs. 547, auto diesel Rs. 389 and super diesel Rs. 427.
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Accordingly, posts related to these claims had been circulating on social media as follows.
The news went viral as via WhatsApp as well. It was shared as a text message received from Ada Derana SMS service.
We did an investigation to find out the accuracy of this alleged fuel price hike.
Fact Check
We first inquired whether any mainstream media had reported news of Lanka Indian Oil (LIOC) increasing fuel prices from midnight of 7th of May. But no such news item was published in any of the mainstream media.
We couldnt find any SMS on 'Ada Derana' SMS news service in this regard either . However, Minister Kanchana Wijesekera was quoted in a text message by Ada Derana and said that the viral social media news about IOC fuel hike being exchanged was fake.
The message was based on a statement issued by Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera stating that the posts circulating on social media were untrue and that there was no increase in fuel prices of IOC or Ceypetco.
The Minister further stated in his official Twitter account that legal action would be taken against those who publish false news in a manner that misleads the public. The message is below.
This statement was reported by almost all media including Ada Derana.
Manoj Gupta, Managing Director of Lanka IOC, also stated that viral social media claims over fuel price hike were false. Click here for the mainstream media news on this matter.
Lanka IOC fuel prices were increased for the last time on April 17. Soon after Ceypetco also increased the fuel pricess with the price of 92 octane petrol to Rs. 338 per liter. Click here for more details. At present fuel is released at those prices .
However, Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said in the Parliament on May 05 that a transparent fuel pricing formula would be introduced and presented to the Cabinet next week. News.lk
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Conclusion:
Our investigation reveals that reports circulating on social media which say that Lanka IOC fuel prices had been increased again from midnight of May 07 are untrue. Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera and Lanka IOC Managing Director Manoj Gupta have confirmed that there is no change of fuel prices as social media posts say.
Title:Lanka IOC Fuel Prices Were NOT increased on 7th May Midnight!
Fact Check By: Kalana KrishanthaResult: False
