KARACHI, July 25, 2023: In a bid to convince petroleum dealers to call off the strike they threatened last week, the government agreed to increase their profit margin on petroleum products by Rs1.64 per litre, after hours-long negotiations, The News reported Tuesday.
Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) Chairman Abdul Sami Khan announced the deal made in this regard.
The government had proposed increasing the dealers’ margin by Rs1.64 per litre.
The dealers — who had initially sought an increase of Rs5 per litre — initially opposed this increment as “insufficient” in the face of the increased cost of their business.
However, they later accepted the offer.
The rise in dealers’ margins will be applied to the consumer price in four phases.
It will be raised by Rs.0.41 per litre every fortnight, and the dealers will receive a full raise of Rs1.6 per litre in two months, bringing the dealers’ margin to Rs7.6 per litre after 2 months from the current Rs6 per litre.
Last week, the petrol pump owners’ representative, PPDA, announced shutting down fuel pumps across the country from July 22, demanding an increase in profit margins amid an inflation crisis.
In a statement, the association said the State Minister for Petroleum, Musadik Malik, was informed about their concerns but to no avail.
The official communique said interest rates and inflation had hit operators’ businesses and called for the dealership margin to be increased.
It said sales have slumped by 30% due to Iranian fuel being smuggled into the country.
However, the following day, the PPDA deferred its strike for two days after the association members negotiated with the petroleum minister, who arrived in Karachi on Friday to convince the PPDA to call off the nationwide strike.