Fuel crisis: City runs short on petrol as tankers go on strike

People rush to fuel stations to fill up their tanks before heading to work

KARACHI:

The All Pakistan Oil Tankers Association's (Apota) strike call against sales and token taxes imposed by the government drained the fuel out of the city's petrol pumps on Tuesday morning.

Panic gripped the city in the wake of the shortage and people rushed to fuel stations in a race to get their tanks filled before heading to work. The crisis began as early as Monday night when people tried to buy as much fuel as they could, using jerrycans and bottles, having family members, including children, line up to buy petrol.

Those who couldn't get their fuel tanks filled by Monday night either took public buses to get to their workplaces or ended up taking a day off. The crisis lasted until late on Tuesday night.

Read: Gas prices to go up 3.8%, petrol prices down 3.9%

Arsalan Ali, a resident of North Karachi, did not have enough petrol in his motorcycle to take him to his office in Saddar, so he decided to take the bus. Yet another resident of North Karachi, Owais Muhammad, who works at DHA Golf Club, told The Express Tribune, that no petrol pump was providing fuel in the entire city on Tuesday morning. "[Going easy on the] accelerator, I somehow managed to drive my motorcycle all the way to my office," he said. Meanwhile, Gulberg Town resident Yasir Raza Abidi said that he decided to stay home due to the petrol shortage.  CNG Owners' Association of Pakistan chairperson said that, in view of the petrol and diesel crises in the city, they decided to open their stations on Monday, despite it being their day off.

Strike called off

Meanwhile, the Apota called off their strike once the government delayed the imposition of the tax. According to Apota general secretary Akram Khan Durrani, the strike was called due to the government's imposition of the 16 per cent sales tax. However, according to him, the government has agreed to their demands. The sales tax has been delayed till December and a committee has been formed, which would include their representatives, too. Durrani said that they had already been paying so many taxes and this new tax will ruin their business.

"We make at least two trips to Lahore in a month, for which we pay around Rs0.2 million in tax," he said. He added that their vehicles tax, which they paid every three months, had already been increased from Rs15,000 to Rs60,000. "We also pay Rs10,000 as toll tax." According to him, imposing a new tax was tantamount to completely killing this business of oil tankers.

Meanwhile, All Pakistan Oil Tankers Contractors Association senior vice-president Muhammad Sulaiman Tareen said that the government had prolonged the matter till December. "If, after December, they try to impose this tax again, we will go for a permanent shutdown [of our business]," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd, 2015.