LAHORE: The federal government raised petrol and diesel prices for the third day in a row on Thursday. Petrol now costs Rs367.75 per litre. At the same time, a new electricity surcharge, rising flour prices and unannounced power cuts in parts of Lahore added to the pressure on household budgets that were already stretched.
A notification from the Petroleum Division said petrol has gone up by Rs3.40 per litre and high-speed diesel by Rs6.72 per litre. Diesel is now Rs392.67 per litre. According to the notification, the new prices apply from September 10, 2026, for one day. Motorists have become used to these short-cycle revisions in recent weeks.
Official price data show how quickly the increases have piled up. On September 5, petrol cost Rs345.87 per litre and diesel Rs378.05. By September 8, petrol was Rs358.77 and diesel Rs381.77.
On September 9, the government added Rs5.58 to petrol and Rs4.18 to diesel, taking them to Rs364.35 and Rs385.95. Thursday’s revision brings the five-day increase to Rs21.88 per litre for petrol and Rs14.62 for diesel.
In practical terms, a commuter who buys 10 litres of petrol a week now pays about Rs219 more than he did last Friday. Diesel moves goods and powers agriculture and public transport, so an increase there usually shows up in fares and food prices within days. We reported this pattern after the third fuel hike in three days earlier this month.
Figures cited alongside the latest revision show how much of the pump price is taxes and charges rather than fuel. The cost of a litre of petrol works out to Rs234.73, but the retail price is Rs367.75. That means a litre of petrol is being sold Rs133.02 above its cost.
According to the same data, Rs131.60 per litre of petrol is collected as petroleum levy, taxes and margins. For diesel, levy, taxes and margins come to Rs122.55 per litre, and diesel is Rs122.55 above its cost.
The petroleum levy has become one of the federal government’s most dependable sources of revenue. That is why opposition parties have made it the main target of their street campaigns.
Rising tension in the Gulf is pushing prices up on the international market. Crude oil rose to $100 (£74) a barrel on Wednesday after tension between the United States and Iran increased, oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf, and Yemen’s Houthis struck Saudi oil installations.
The United States said it attacked five Iranian tankers after Iran targeted one of its warships. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it hit back by striking eight tankers and two warships, as well as a US base in Jordan. The IRGC also said it plans to set up a new no-go zone for shipping that would reach beyond the Strait of Hormuz into the Arabian Sea.
The Houthis say Saudi Arabia has carried out dozens of strikes in Yemen. Earlier, Houthi drone and missile attacks set fire to several Saudi oil facilities. None of these claims has been independently verified.
The rise in crude prices has pushed up petrol prices for consumers in many countries. For background, see our earlier report on oil jumping above $89 after US strikes near Hormuz and US President Donald Trump’s claim that petrol prices will drop rapidly once the Iran war ends.
Electricity bills are also going up. The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has issued a notification raising the power tariff by 52 paisa per unit. The increase is a quarterly adjustment for the second quarter of the current year.
Consumers will pay the extra amount through their September, October and November bills. That means 52 paisa more per unit for three months in a row. The total additional burden on consumers is more than Rs12.67 billion.
The increase applies to all electricity consumers across the country, including K-Electric customers. NEPRA had already approved the quarterly adjustment. It issued the formal notification after the federal government gave its approval.
Flour, the most basic item on the household shopping list, has also become more expensive. In Multan, flour is selling at Rs130 to Rs135 per kilogram in different areas. A 15-kg bag costs around Rs2,000, and some residents said they were being charged up to Rs2,100.
Residents said daily-wage workers have been hit hardest. “Sometimes we find work and sometimes we don’t,” one man said. He said he could no longer afford a Rs2,000 bag, and loose flour was selling for Rs135 to Rs140 a kilogram. Residents asked the government to bring flour prices down and act quickly.
Lahore is under similar pressure. The district administration recently fixed naan at Rs20 and roti at Rs14. Flour has also kept getting costlier despite plans to import one million tonnes of wheat. Readers can compare today’s official prices in the Lahore Market Rate List for September 10.
On top of higher bills, some Lahore neighbourhoods are also dealing with long outages. Residents of Baghbanpura say LESCO’s unannounced load-shedding has disrupted daily life. They said power went off on Wednesday night and had not been restored by the time of filing.
Residents said they had gone to the LESCO office several times without getting a response. They are asking for power to be restored immediately and for a permanent end to unscheduled outages. LESCO had not made public any explanation for the Baghbanpura outage at the time of filing.
The complaints are part of a wider problem. The city has faced night-time demand of 5,200MW and a shortfall of nearly 1,000MW. The Punjab Assembly also unanimously passed a resolution against unannounced load-shedding.
Rising prices are adding momentum to the opposition’s protests. Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman phoned Awami National Party (ANP) president Senator Aimal Wali Khan and invited him to join JI’s protest sit-ins. Aimal Wali Khan accepted.
The two leaders talked about the political situation, inflation and the ongoing sit-ins against the petroleum levy. Hafiz Naeem said all political and democratic forces must come together for people’s rights and against inflation. He asked the government to cut taxes and the levy on petroleum products immediately. He said JI’s nationwide movement would continue until the petroleum levy and expensive electricity are ended.
Aimal Wali Khan praised JI’s campaign. He said inflation and the petroleum levy are a problem for the whole nation, not for any one party. JI’s Lahore protest is already in its fourth week, as reported when the Mall Road sit-in entered day 24. Other parties, including the PMML, have also criticised the fuel increases.
People in Lahore were angry about the latest increase. “Inflation has made life hard. When petrol goes up, everything goes up. How are we supposed to manage?” one resident said.
The government has linked the fuel increases to global prices. But households now face higher fuel prices, a new power surcharge and costlier flour all at once. Relief from Islamabad looks unlikely as long as crude stays near $100.
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