Highlighting the financial challenges the pump owners are facing, APPPOA Chairman Humayun Khan said, “The daily pricing mechanism created confusion and destroyed our businesses already running at thin margins,” he said,

The All Pakistan Petrol Pumps Owners Association (APPPOA) has declared a nationwide strike from Wednesday night after talks over daily petroleum pricing with the government failed, Pakistani newspaper The Dawn reported.

Following a meeting with the government’s team, led by Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik, on Tuesday, APPPOA representatives said that their hour-long negotiations over the fuel pricing mechanism had “failed” to reach an agreement, prompting them to go on an indefinite strike.

APPPOA Vice Chairman Nauman Ali Butt said the government’s decision to revise petroleum prices daily was “unacceptable to petrol pump dealers and unworkable”, reported The Dawn.

He said their core demand was that the fuel prices should be revised on a monthly basis. Their long-pending demand for an increase in the commission of dealers has also not been met, with the commission staying frozen for the past three years, he said.

APPPOA Chairman Humayun Khan highlighted the financial challenges the pump owners are facing, and alleged that the daily mechanism favoured oil marketing companies (OMCs) who could delay deliveries in case of falling prices and book upliftment with advance billing. “The daily pricing mechanism created confusion and destroyed our businesses already running at thin margins,” The Dawn quoted him as saying.

The petrol price rise

The Pakistan government Tuesday hiked the price of petrol by Rs 4.93 and that of high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs 7.15 per litre to offset the impact of volatile global prices following renewed hostilities in the Gulf region.

Following the revision, the petrol price stands at Rs 320.73 per litre while that of HSD at Rs 367.21 per litre

In a notification, the Petroleum Division said the new prices would be applicable on July 22 (Wednesday).