KARACHI: The Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) Thursday announced to go on strike from tomorrow (Saturday) for raise in the margins of dealers.
“The petrol pumps will remain closed on Saturday, 22nd July from 6:00am,” said Chairman PPDA Abdul Sami Khan in a statement.
He said the dealers were facing financial losses due to the rising cost of business and sales of petrol and diesel smuggled from Iran, capturing 30 percent market share.
He said the association had sent a letter to the Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik, bringing several issues to his attention but there was no response.
Sami said the protest would continue until the petroleum ministry took concrete steps to solve the issue.
He said the government had fixed Rs6 per litre margin on the petroleum products which was 2.40 percent of the total price whereas in 1999, it was decided that the margin would be five percent.
He said the hike in interest rate and utility prices had pushed up the cost manifold and the dealers were not able to run their fuel stations according to the current margins.