Petrol pump owners announce nationwide strike after failed negotiations with govt over daily pricing

Petrol pump owners in Pakistan have announced a nationwide strike starting Wednesday night after talks with the government over a daily petroleum pricing mechanism ended without agreement, according to a monitored public feed based on Dawn Home.

The All Pakistan Petrol Pumps Owners Association (APPPOA) said the hour-long meeting with the government team, led by Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik, failed to produce a deal on the proposed pricing system. Association representatives told reporters after the meeting that they had no choice but to move ahead with an indefinite strike, describing the issue as one of survival for their businesses.

APPPOA Vice Chairman Nauman Ali Butt said the government’s plan to revise fuel prices every day was unacceptable to dealers and could not be implemented in practice. He said the association wanted petroleum prices to be set on a monthly basis instead. He also said the dealers’ long-standing demand for an increase in commission had been pending for three years.

APPPOA Chairman Humayun Khan said petrol pump owners were already under pressure from the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority, oil marketing companies and government policies. He said the daily pricing system had created confusion and hurt businesses operating on narrow margins. He added that the arrangement could benefit oil marketing companies, which in some cases could delay deliveries if prices were falling and use advance billing for booked upliftment.

Khan also criticised the government for taking what he called a major decision without consulting key stakeholders. He said that reflected a wider pattern in which small private businesses were left out of policymaking and ground realities were ignored.

According to Khan, around 15,000 petrol pumps across the country could remain closed on Thursday if the strike proceeds as planned. He said the APPPOA was asking the government to reconsider the daily pricing formula, raise dealers’ commissions and include petrol pump owners in future consultations.

Separately, the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association said it would decide on Wednesday whether to join a strike after meeting its executive body. Senior adviser Malik Khuda Bukhsh said the daily fuel pricing system was not acceptable and could not work. He said the association’s delegation had met officials of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority after being asked by the petroleum minister to present its concerns.

Bukhsh said Ogra acknowledged that the decision to introduce daily pricing had been rushed and asked dealers to give detailed input. He added that Ogra sought seven days to convey the concerns to the government and urged the dealers not to rush into a strike.

The Petroleum Division offered a different account, saying its talks with the PPDA had been successful and that the delegation had appreciated the government’s handling of petroleum supplies during recent regional pressures. It also said the PPDA had supported the new pricing mechanism, which would replace weekly price announcements with daily updates based on a seven-day rolling average of international prices.

The PPDA, however, had previously published an appeal in newspapers asking the government to review the 24-hour price adjustment system.

This report is based on a monitored public feed and attributed to Dawn Home.

Source: Dawn Home - https://www.dawn.com/news/2017314/petrol-pump-owners-announce-nationwide-strike-after-failed-negotiations-with-govt-over-daily-pricing