Petrol pumps across Pakistan will remain shut for 24 hours starting Thursday morning, as fuel dealers escalate their protest against the government’s newly introduced daily pricing mechanism, with public transport and goods vehicles now joining the strike.
Karachi, Pakistan – Web Desk: The Petroleum Dealers Association announced the shutdown at a press conference on Wednesday, confirming that stations nationwide would close from 6am Thursday until 6am Friday. Association representative Malik Khuda Bakhsh said the daily price revision system remains unacceptable to dealers, adding that consultations had taken place with a committee following a meeting with the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) earlier that day.
“We are going on strike tomorrow for 24 hours,” Bakhsh said.
Under the new system, OGRA updates petroleum prices daily on its website, using a seven-day average of international market rates to align with global standards, according to Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik. The daily pricing framework, approved by the federal cabinet, went into effect from July 1, 2026.
The dealers’ strike compounds an earlier shutdown announced by the All Pakistan Petrol Pumps Owners Association (APPPOA), whose general secretary Noman Ali Butt said negotiations with the government had failed to produce a breakthrough. “We cannot accept daily changes in petroleum product prices under any circumstances,” Butt said.
APPPOA president Nadeem Hussain confirmed the association’s support for the dealers’ strike, adding that public transport would also halt operations nationwide from Wednesday night. Separately, the Pakistan Mini Mazda Goods Transport Association announced that Mazda goods vehicles would stop running from midnight, with its president Haji Sher Ali Chaudhry saying the daily pricing policy was inflicting major losses on transporters.
Not everyone in the business community backs the strike, however. The Pakistan Business Forum urged dealers to reconsider, with chief organiser Ahmad Jawad arguing the move works against public and economic interests during an already difficult period. Jawad said dealers already earn roughly Rs8 per litre in margin, calling that sufficient, and instead urged the government to withdraw the daily pricing policy and defer the petroleum levy for a month to ease pressure on the public.
Adding another layer to the standoff, the daily pricing mechanism has been challenged in the Lahore High Court. A petition filed by a private organization argues the policy fuels continuous inflation without passing on relief to consumers when international oil prices fall, and asks the court to declare the mechanism unconstitutional.
The unfolding crisis threatens to disrupt fuel supply, transport, and goods movement across Pakistan simultaneously, compounding pressure on an economy already strained by elevated global oil prices linked to ongoing Middle East tensions.
