Pakistan’s federal government has withdrawn fuel conservation and additional austerity measures with immediate effect after the Prime Minister approved the move, according to a notification the Cabinet Division issued on Friday. The notification abolished all fuel-saving and supplementary austerity restrictions imposed earlier, though it left business and market operating-hour limits unchanged.
Under the existing schedule, shops, markets, and shopping malls will continue to close at 9:00 pm, and departmental and general stores will also operate only until 9:00 pm. Marriage halls, marquees, and commercial event venues must close by 10:00 pm, while restaurants, cafes, and food outlets must close by 11:00 pm. The rules continue to exempt home delivery and takeaway services from these restrictions.
The notification continues to exclude several essential services from the operating-hour limitations altogether, including fruit and vegetable markets, grocery stores, pharmacies, hospitals, medical laboratories, and clinics. The exemption list also covers bakeries, tandoors, milk shops, petrol pumps, and electric vehicle charging stations. The government also permits gyms, sports facilities, IT companies, and call centres to continue operations beyond the prescribed closing hours.
The retained exemption for IT companies and call centres matters given Pakistan’s growing freelance and tech outsourcing sector, much of which runs overnight shifts to align with international client time zones in North America and Europe. The continued carve-out ensures Pakistan’s IT exporters and remote service providers, a sector that contributes billions of dollars in export earnings, can keep operating without the broader business-hour restrictions that still apply to other commercial categories.
