KARACHI: The caretaker government has agreed to hold talks with petroleum dealers on profit margins after they threatened a nationwide strike and warned to close down pumps.

Caretaker Federal Minister for Petroleum (Power Division) will reach Karachi on Friday. He will hold talks with a delegation of the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) at the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) head office.

The petroleum dealers will present the agreement of the previous government before the federal minister. The previous government had agreed to a phased increase in profit margin by Rs 0.41 in four months

Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association President Abdul Sami Khan said the interim federal minister has assured to implement the agreement.  He said if the government does not comply with the agreement then the dealers will be forced to close petrol pumps across the country.

The petroleum dealers in Pakistan have issued a warning to close down filling stations in protest of a non-increase in their profit margins.

The decision comes after the government failed to honour its commitment to raise profit margins. PPDA Chairman Abdul Sami Khan expressed frustration over the government’s inability to raise their profit margin after the September 1 deadline expired.

Sami Khan pointed out that the government and other stakeholders had signed a written agreement with his association. However, he regretted, the government has not increased the profit margins.

He said the dealer cannot run petrol stations with the current dealer margin. He said the expenditure ratio has witnessed a staggering increase. He warned of a complete strike if the government failed to increase profit margin.

Earlier in July, the petroleum dealers postponed their nationwide strike following a deal with then-State Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik.

An agreement was reached and signed by the state minister, OGRA Chairman, and PPDA Chairman on a phased increase in profit margins.

The dealers had issued a warning to close their petrol pumps after the outgoing government failed to fulfill its promise of increasing profit margins to 5%, equivalent to Rs12/litre at the current rates.

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