Petrol pump operators call off countrywide strike after agreement with govt

Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) on Thursday agreed to call off the countrywide petrol strike.

Sources privy to the matter said that an increase of Rs0.99 in petroleum dealers margin is expected soon. Petroleum Division officials said that a summary seeking a raise of Rs0.99 or 25% increase in the margin has been sent.

The government assured the petroleum dealers to review the profits every six months.

Taking to Twitter, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry also confirmed the news.

Meanwhile, an official notification issued by the Petroleum Division said that the PPDA cancelled the strike after talks between the Ministry of Energy and the association were successful.

The parties agreed upon the proposal of an increase of Rs0.99 in the margin for petroleum dealers, the notification read.

According to the notification, the margin for the petrol dealers after the suggested increase will rise to Rs4.90, while for the high-speed diesel, the margin will rise to Rs4.13 after the proposed hike of Rs0.83.

On Wednesday, the PPDA had announced to go on a countrywide strike from today (November 25) to register their protest at what they call "low-profit margins".

The association had said they will not hold talks with authorities till their profit margins on the sale of petroleum products are not increased by 6%. 

Earlier today, the ministry of energy and petroleum had sent the approval for an increase in the margins of oil marketing companies (OMCs) to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), the spokesperson had said.

"The dealers' margin has been increasing by Rs0.20 in the past," he said, adding that this time a request for an increase of Rs0.99 has been made which will "offset all past losses incurred by the dealers."