Smuggling of POL products
Smuggling of substandard petrol, diesel and other petroleum products into Pakistan is causing a heavy loss of more than Rs2 billion annually to the exchequer and also adversely impacting vehicles and the environment. Lately, the Pakistan Customs has launched a nationwide crackdown on sale of smuggled petroleum products and has so far identified 2,224 outlets where substandard petroleum products were being sold. Of these, 476 petrol stations have been sealed. During the ongoing raids, 1.73 million litres of petrol and 1.87 million litres of diesel have been confiscated whose total value is estimated at Rs497.37 million.
Gangs of smugglers take advantage of the slack security in Balochistan border areas with Iran and, with the connivance of unscrupulous officials, stealthily bring in petroleum products through Iran. Later, these products are distributed through tankers, buses, trucks and rickshaws to different parts of the country. Substandard products though they are, there is much demand for them, like all other smuggled goods, because of their relatively low prices. Many other things like tyres, machinery, cigarettes and other consumer goods are also smuggled into the country via these borders. Since smuggling on a huge scale is eating into the vitals of the national economy, officials say, the government is making all efforts to tighten security controls at these borders and other vulnerable points.
There is an urgent need to put all necessary measures in place so as to stop the menace of smuggling and let the country’s manufacturing sector expand and create more and more jobs for our own people. This will also help add to the government’s tax revenue. Petroleum traders have long been demanding a crackdown on smuggling of petroleum products in the country. They have welcomed the government’s action and want its conclusion to its logical end. There are some elements who have opposed the action on the plea that it will snatch away the livelihood of many. Such views are a mere aberration and the norm.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 18th, 2021.
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