LAHORE: The Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) has refused to provide petrol under the government’s relief scheme in its current form. The association says it was not consulted and that the financial burden cannot fall on dealers. The refusal comes hours before the scheme’s nationwide rollout, even as some motorcyclists have already started receiving subsidised fuel at several stations.
Addressing a press conference, PPDA Vice Chairman Anwar Kamal said dealers were not consulted when the relief scheme was designed, and that the current mechanism is difficult to implement.
He said relief should reach the public directly and through a simple method. Dealers’ capital has already been eroded by inflation, he said, while oil marketing companies still owe them billions of rupees.
Kamal said placing the scheme’s financial burden on dealers was not workable, and he demanded an increase in dealers’ margins. He made clear that dealers would not provide petrol under the government’s current relief scheme.
He also asked how the government would reimburse dealers for the discounted fuel. The association had been trying to contact the government for three days, he said, but had not yet received a response.
Despite the dispute, motorcyclists have begun receiving relief under the federal petrol subsidy. In the first phase, several fuel stations are giving a Rs100 subsidy on five litres of petrol, providing direct relief on the pump price.
Citizens who received the subsidy welcomed the move. They asked the government to introduce simpler ways for people who cannot read to access it. Many said booths should be set up at petrol pumps for working-class people, instead of relying only on a digital system.
The Prime Minister’s scheme, announced on September 13, offers a discount of Rs100 per litre of petrol for motorcycle, rickshaw, Qingqi and small-car users. It is already active in Islamabad and is due to launch across the rest of the country at 11:59 pm on September 16. Whether dealers take part could decide how smoothly the rollout goes.
The dealers’ refusal, the calls for easier access and the rise in overcharging all point to the same pressure on household budgets. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has described the federal relief package as a positive step amid the global oil surge. How quickly the government resolves the dealers’ concerns will now decide how much of that relief reaches the pump.
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