A nationwide wheel-jam strike by goods transporters entered its second day on Sunday, with transporters in Karachi continuing their protest until their demands are met.
The transporters said frequent changes in diesel prices and rising fuel costs have made it increasingly difficult for them to operate their businesses. They also cited higher toll taxes and other issues as major challenges affecting the goods transport sector.
The transporters are demanding the withdrawal of the policy of determining diesel prices on a daily basis. They have also called for the reversal of the recent increase in toll taxes and demanded that rates be restored to the levels prevailing on June 30, 2024.
Among their other demands is a reduction in withholding tax from 7% to 2%.
The transporters are also seeking the withdrawal of Customs SRO 1619 and strict implementation of axle-load regulations.
In addition, they have demanded dedicated parking facilities for goods vehicles at Karachi Port and Port Qasim, saying such facilities are necessary to address operational difficulties faced by the transport sector.
Earlier, the new prices for petrol and diesel were announced in Pakistan. The price of petrol had been set at Rs327.62 per litre, and the price of diesel had been set at Rs380.86 per litre.
The price of petrol decreased by Rs2.20 per litre, and the price of diesel decreased by Rs1.50 per litre, according to the notification. These prices reduced for the next three days, till August 10.
Petrol and diesel prices in Pakistan
Before this, on July 17, the government increased the price of petrol by Rs5.44 per litre and high-speed diesel by Rs31.50 per litre for the next three days.
After the increase, petrol price was set at Rs316.15 per litre and diesel at Rs354.35 per litre.
On July 20, the price of petrol was reduced by Rs0.35 per litre. It went down to Rs315.80 per litre. However, the price of diesel increased by Rs5.71 per litre to Rs360.60 per litre.
On July 21, petrol prices went up by Rs4.93 per litre. High-speed diesel increased by Rs7.15 per litre. The new prices were Rs320.73 per litre for petrol and Rs367.21 per litre for diesel.
On July 22, the government again increased fuel prices. Petrol became Rs6.39 per litre more expensive. And diesel increased by Rs7.83 per litre.
This raised the prices to Rs327.12 per litre for petrol and Rs375.40 per litre for diesel.
On August 6, the government increased the price of petrol by Rs4.45 per litre. It also reduced the price of diesel by Rs2 per litre.
Also read: Goods transporters announce nationwide wheel-jam strike from Monday