By our correspondent
KARACHI: A dispute over the government’s proposed daily revision of petrol and diesel prices deepened on Tuesday, with Pakistan’s two major petroleum dealers’ organisations taking different positions on a possible nationwide strike.
The Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) convened a central meeting in Karachi for Wednesday to decide its future course of action, while the Petrol Pumps Owners Association announced a strike from Wednesday night.
Petroleum dealers continued to reject the proposed system of daily fuel price adjustments, insisting they would not accept the policy.
Federal Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik held a series of meetings with representatives of petroleum dealers from Karachi and Lahore, but the government was unable to persuade them to accept the proposed pricing mechanism.
Back-to-back meetings were also held between dealers’ representatives, the chairman of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and the Petroleum Secretary. A PPDA delegation later met the OGRA chairman for nearly two and a half hours after its meeting with the petroleum minister.
During the discussions, dealers expressed strong reservations over the proposed daily pricing formula and reiterated their opposition to the plan.
According to the PPDA, OGRA has sought seven days to review the issue. PPDA Vice Chairman Tariq Hassan said the association’s central meeting in Karachi on Wednesday would decide whether to proceed with a strike or grant the regulator the requested seven-day extension.
He added that dealers had also demanded that their profit margin be increased to 8%.
Meanwhile, the Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC), the representative body of oil marketing companies, expressed support for the government’s decision on daily fuel price determination.
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