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There were fears that the petroleum dealers, most of whom were corrupt and involved in fuel hoarding, would not pass on the full benefit of cross-subsidy to the motorbike owners and demand higher prices. PHOTO: afp
KARACHI:
The Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association has rejected the margin offered by the government and has demanded that the dealers’ margin be increased to 8%. This demand was made by the Association Chairman, Abdul Sami Khan, while addressing a press conference on Friday along with other officials.
He said that they had asked the government for an 8% margin because it was not possible to operate without it. Giving the government a 10-day deadline to bring the margin to the proposed rate, he said that if the government did not increase the dealers’ margin to 8%, the association would convene a meeting after 10 days and shut down fuel pumps across the country.
He stated that after the meeting of the dealers’ core committee, a final decision would be announced. Sami Khan said that the petroleum dealers’ margin was 3.12%, therefore the government should provide a written assurance to increase it to 8%. “If the government wants, it may raise the margin in installments.”
