Petrol strike: Dispute between government and petroleum dealers over dealer margins, long queues at petrol pumps
Federal Minister for Energy Hamad Azhar has appealed to the petrol pump owners to reconsider their decision due to the difficulties faced by the people. He assured the Petroleum Dealers Association that a summary of their demand for increase in profit margin on petrol has been sent to the Economic Co-ordination Committee which will be considered at the next meeting.
The Federal Minister further said that under the guise of strike of petrol pumps, some groups (in case of profit margin) wanted an increase of Rs.
He said that the "illegitimate demands" of the Petroleum Dealers Association would not be considered but legitimate demands would be considered.
The Petroleum Dealers Association of Pakistan had declared a strike on November 25 and demanded from the government to increase the rate of return on petrol.
Although the strike was to begin on Thursday, most petrol pumps in the country have been closed since Wednesday night and there are long queues of consumers at the pumps where petrol is available.
According to the Ministry of Energy, despite the strike, petrol pumps of PSO, Go, Hescole and Shell companies across the country will remain open.
The Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association claims that the government has failed to increase its profits from the sale of petrol despite promises, forcing it to go on strike.
The 'dealer margin' on petroleum products is the profit per liter of the individual or company operating the petrol pump. Pakistan currently has a variety of taxes on petroleum products, in addition to government taxes, including dealer's margin (or share), oil marketing companies' margin and inland freight equalization.
At present, the ex-refinery price of petrol is Rs. 125.27 per liter, followed by Rs. 9.62 in petroleum development levy, Rs. Includes margin of Rs. A typical consumer of all these gets petrol at Rs 145.82 per liter.
Oil sector analyst Arsalan Hanif said that at present the dealer margin is Rs 3.91 per liter on petrol and Rs 3.30 on diesel.
He said that the country consumes 50,000 metric tons of petrol and diesel daily.
Petroleum Dealers Association spokesman Noman Butt said their margins on petrol have not increased in the last three years but on the other hand the cost of petrol pumps has skyrocketed in the last three years which has made it difficult for them to do business. Is.
He said that if we look at the Consumer Price Index which measures inflation in the country, then the rate of inflation is going up and due to this increase in profit has become inevitable to meet the expenses of petrol pump operators.
However, analyst Arsalan Hanif said that dealer margins had increased in March this year.
According to OGRA, the regulator of oil and gas in Pakistan, the dealer's margin on petrol was Rs 3.70 per liter in January this year, which is now Rs 3.91 per liter, which means an increase of 21 paise.
Analyst Arsalan Hanif said that the dealer margin on a liter of petrol in Indian Rupees is Rs 3.90 which is 4% of the retail price of petrol and the margin on diesel is Rs 2.6 per liter which is 3% of its retail price.
Petroleum dealers in Pakistan are demanding 6% dealer margin on oil products, which will be higher than in India.
Arsalan said that if the dealer margin increases by six per cent, it means that considering the current price of petrol and diesel, it will be more than eight rupees per liter.
Abdul Sami Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association, said he had earlier announced a strike on November 5, but was assured by the government that his problem would be resolved. A committee headed by the Secretary Petroleum was also constituted in this regard which included government officials as well as dealers' representatives and we were told that we would be consulted on the summary before consultation in the ECC.
He claimed that "however, the government did not make any contact, which forced the petroleum dealers to call a strike."
According to Sami Khan, dealers' expenses have skyrocketed, including in addition to electricity prices, government taxes and salaries of employees, which has led to an increase in profit margins.
Consumers in Pakistan are currently buying oil products at the highest prices in the country's history. Diesel and petrol prices in the country are currently Rs 142.62 and Rs 145.82 per liter respectively.
The government shifted the rise in global crude oil prices to consumers, with the weakening of the national currency also contributing to the rise in prices, as Pakistan imports 80% of its oil products for its own needs, which would make the dollar more expensive. Due to the high cost of living for consumers.
The demand for increase in dealer margin has come at a time when the government itself is going to increase the petroleum levy under IMF conditions and according to the finance adviser it will have to increase it by Rs 4 per liter per month so that itUp to Rs. 30 per liter.
Arsalan Hanif said that if the government increases the margin on the demand of dealers, it will be collected from the consumers. If the government agrees to the six per cent demand, it means that the dealer margin will be above Rs 8 per liter, which will impose an additional burden on consumer
However, he said that at present the prices of crude oil have come down a bit in the world market and if the government does not increase the petroleum levy then dealers can be facilitated in case of some increase in margin
On the other hand, OGRA said that some elements were trying to disrupt the supply of petrol in order to increase dealers' margin
OGRA has directed all oil marketing companies to ensure uninterrupted supply of petroleum products at all outlets. OGRA enforcement teams will monitor the situation in the field and strict action will be taken against those who disrupt the supply in any wa
What are the problems faced by the citizen
Anil Kumar from Karachi works in the housekeeping department of a private hospital. Pushing his motorbike, when he reached the petrol pump near 'Seven Day', the canals were closed. "The whole MA has been coming from Jinnah Road but nowhere is the pump open, I have been walking around for an hour and no one is helping me," he said
He said, "I have to get to my duty. The office bearers will not understand why petrol was not found
Muhammad Fahad, a resident of Karachi, is a rickshaw driver and he managed to get petrol after a great effort at Karsaz on Shahra-e-Faisal. He says that the pumps from Orangi Town to Korangi are closed. He has not taken a single ride since morning because there was no petrol in the ca
Muhammad Arif is a bike rider. He said that he was looking for petrol from University Road. After waiting for two hours, he got petrol available. "My work has been greatly affected. By the way, I used to go till six o'clock in the evening. Today I have to ride my bike till twelve o'clock so that the calculation will be maintained
'Petrol' is currently the top trend on social media in Pakistan. It seems that people are most concerned about this issue and if they lose in the semi-finals of the World Cup, are they ignoring the deal with the IMF or even the 'audio leaks' in the political scena
The ruling party PTI has thanked PSO, Shell, Go and Heskol on Twitter for not being part of the strike. District administrations and government officials in various cities are sharing a list of petrol pumps that were not part of the strik
Consumer Saad Qaiser says, “There is a long queue at every petrol pump because of the strike. Our people will not boycott the increase in petrol prices. But we will wait in line for ho
On the other hand, Faisal Rafi, who went out to refuel his car, says, "People are behaving as if they have run out of petrol on the ground." There are fights at gas stations, long queues and chaos. As if doomsday has fallen on us.
He hopes that in a day or two, life will return to normal. But no, we need fuel now. " 'urs.e.rio.."r..".s?y.s.s.s.