Association says pumps will be closed for an indefinite period due to non-increase in margins of dealers
ISLAMABAD
The Petroleum Dealers Association (PDA) on Thursday announced the countrywide closure of petrol pumps from July 22 next. PDA Chairman Abdul Sami Khan said that Iranian petrol was being smuggled into the country due to which the profit rate of the dealers had decreased.
“The government and the dealers have to bear the loss caused by smuggling. The government should increase the margin on petroleum products from Rs3 to Rs9,” the PDA chairman demanded.
“The inflation rate has become very high compared to the last year. The income has depleted due to the financial cost and other needs,” he said. “The dealers in the petroleum industry act as the backbone of the country. They are being neglected by the government,” he stated.
“Our agreement with the government took place in 1999 according to which we were to get a five percent margin on the petroleum products,” he added. “Due to the financial cost and other expenditures, the profit of the petrol pumps with low sales has come to zero. Our sales have dropped by 30 percent due to the sale of smuggled Iranian petrol and diesel,” he averred. “It is the responsibility of the current government to provide justice to the business community. We are going on a strike for an indefinite period under compulsion. There will be no strike on the 9th and 10th of Muharram,” he declared.
Earlier, the oil marketing companies (OMCs) had written a letter to the Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC) to the federal government, demanding to set OMC’s margin petrol and for high-speed diesel (HSD) at Rs12 per litre.
It was learnt that the dealers’ commission had been increased by more than 25% to Rs7 per litre in 2022, witnessing a hike in OMC’s margins from Rs3 and Rs3.68 per litre on petrol and HSD to Rs6 per litre in November 2022.
