The All Pakistan Petroleum Pump Owners Association (APPPOA) has deferred its planned nationwide strike for two weeks following fresh negotiations with Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik, who assured dealers that their concerns would be addressed within the given timeframe.
The strike, originally set to begin Wednesday night, was called off after a fresh round of talks resolved the deadlock that had emerged when earlier negotiations over the daily petroleum pricing mechanism collapsed.
Malik told reporters that the government had spent around Rs100 billion since February 28 to cushion the impact of rising fuel prices, including a subsidy scheme for vulnerable groups, as tensions linked to the Iran-US conflict continued to push prices upward.
The minister said Pakistans civil and military leadership was engaged with Iranian and American officials in efforts to de-escalate the situation.
On the issue of dealer margins, Malik said a summary would be sent to the federal cabinet, with the daily pricing mechanism to be reviewed alongside stakeholders after two weeks. He added that Ogra would begin publishing fuel prices, including an Urdu breakdown, on its website.
APPPOA Information Secretary Nadeem Aziz Khan said the daily pricing system was being introduced on a trial basis and would be reconsidered if it caused public difficulty. He said the commitment had been formalized in writing and thanked the minister for engaging with the association.
A day earlier, APPPOA Vice Chairman Nauman Ali Butt had rejected the daily pricing plan as unworkable, demanding monthly price revisions and an increase in dealer commission, which he said had remained frozen for three years.
