Petroleum dealers postpone planned strike as govt approves margin revision

The Pakistan Petroleum Dealers’ Association (PPDA) has called off its planned strike for Saturday after the government approved a proposed revision in dealers' margins. The finance ministry confirmed the nod for the revision, though the exact amount was not specified. The Economic Coordination Committee had discussed the matter during a meeting chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, who then announced the approval of the margin revision.

The PPDA had threatened a strike, demanding an eight percent increase in the petroleum dealers' margin. Currently, the margins stand at Rs8.64 per litre. However, the government has increased the margin by Rs1.34 per litre, raising the total to Rs10 per litre. The PPDA Chairman, Bakhsh, announced the strike cancellation during a press conference in Karachi, hinting that petroleum product prices may now be revised every 7 or 15 days, rather than daily.

Last month, the government had announced daily price revisions instead of the previous weekly system. The government rejected the dealers' demand for monthly price fixing, maintaining the daily mechanism for petroleum products. The PPDA expressed its intent to continue protesting until all demands were met, with its vice chairman, Tariq Hassan, stating that $50 million owed to petroleum dealers remains unpaid.

The association had issued a 72-hour ultimatum to the government on Wednesday over the failure to fulfill promises, including an eight percent margin increase on petrol's retail sale price. Talks between the PPDA and Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik in Islamabad resulted in the minister's assurance of the Rs1.34 per litre margin increase, pending approval from the Federal Cabinet.