Filling stations owners call off strike in Lower Dir

TIMERGARA: Petrol Pumps Association (PPA), a union of all filling stations in Lower Dir on Tuesday called off the strike after successful negotiations with the district administration.

The PPA on Monday closed down all filling stations in Lower Dir against the alleged imposition of heavy fines on filling stations by the district administration on one pretext or the other.

Talking to reporters in Timergara, PPA president Mian Ali Jan had said the district administration forced the owners of filling stations to sell petroleum products on the rate fixed by Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA).

He said it was quite impossible to sell petroleum products on OGRA prescribed rates as they had to pay extra charges on transportation. The decision was taken after Deputy Commissioner Saadat Hassan held fruitful negotiation with PPA cabinet at his office in Balambat.

Saadat Hassan said that the initiative had been taken on public complaint during a Khuli Kutchehry at Ouch with commissioner Malakand division Riaz Mehsud in the chair. Saadat Hassan clarified that the POL prices fixation was the exclusive domain of OGRA and the district administration had to implement the rates only. He added that the provincial government had issued directives for implementation of OGRA approved rates.

The owners expressed their inability to implement the OGRA rates due to high carriage charges, generator charges, loadshedding, petrol loss due to evaporation and increased in labour charges due to devaluation of the currency.

The owners of the filling stations also submitted the rates of diesel and petrol of other adjoining districts.