The All Pakistan Goods Transport Ittehad on Saturday announced a further 5% increase in goods transport fares following the latest increase in petroleum product prices. President of the association Malik Shahzad Awan said transporters across the country had condemned the government’s decision to increase fuel prices, saying the repeated hikes were placing an additional burden on the transport sector and consumers. The government on Friday increased the price of petrol by Rs5.02 per litre and high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs5.28 per litre. Following the increase, the price of petrol was fixed at Rs375.82 per litre.

Awan said diesel had increased by around Rs20 per litre and petrol by Rs24 per litre in just four days. He termed the policy of changing petroleum prices on a daily basis unacceptable and called for its immediate withdrawal. The transporters’ leader said the petroleum minister had earlier assured them that fuel prices would not be revised on a daily basis. He said the transporters had subsequently postponed their nationwide strike for 40 days on the basis of assurances given by the federal and provincial governments.

Awan said the 40-day period given to the authorities would expire next week. He warned that if the agreements reached with the transporters were not implemented, goods transporters across the country would resume their nationwide strike. He said the increase in transport fares had become unavoidable because of the continuous rise in fuel prices. However, if the government considered the fuel price increase unavoidable, it should provide relief to transporters by reducing withholding tax, toll charges and other taxes, he added.

Earlier, on September 10, the All Pakistan Goods Transport Owners Association had announced a 10% increase in transport fares following a rise in petroleum product prices. Association President Muhammad Awais Chaudhry had said the decision was taken jointly by transporters as rising diesel prices had significantly increased their operating costs.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)