The distributors of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Awami Rickshaw Union (ARU) have threatened to observe a countrywide strike against the price hike and imposition of the taxes on the import of LPG at a time when the demand of LPG is going to be increased manifold in days to come due to the peak winter season.
As per details, both the trade unions of rickshaw drivers and LPG distributors have unanimously rejected the taxes imposed on the import of LPG while giving a detailed schedule of their joint protest call that would be started next week from Lahore.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Awami Rickshaw Union Chairman Majeed Ghauri announced the protest call of rickshaw drivers, saying that their protest would be held in six phases as it would start from the second week of December while culminating in the second week of January when there would be complete lockdown in the whole country by all the rickshaw drivers.
“Our first protest would be held outside the Lahore Press Club on December 10 while second protest would be staged at Wahdat Road near Iqbal Town on December 13. Similarly, there would also be protests at Kalma Chowk, Liberty and Jail Road on December 17 and 31. An LPG seminar is going to be arranged on December 24 while there will be complete lock jam on January 10 in all over the country by both rickshaw drivers and LPG distributors,” Ghauri said.
He further added, ‘We don’t want to come on roads but the government is forcing us to do so by not regulating the LPG prices and not decreasing the tax on the import of LPG. We have over 20,000 drivers as members of our rickshaw union and this figure is fair enough to lock jam the whole country if government does not pay any heed towards the most important issue of the LPG as thousands of families are directly or indirectly associated with the LPG’.
Meanwhile, LPG Distributors Association Pakistan Chairman Irfan Khokhar told this scribe that an increase in the tax on LPG’s import would discourage the importers drastically and the domestic consumer would be effected resultantly as the local producers of LPG would have a monopoly in the market because of the absence of imported LPG. The price of LPG per kilogram might increase to over RS 300 from just 95 during the peak winter season.
“The government has imposed heavy taxes on the import of LPG that includes premium bonus, signature bonus, regulatory duty and levy tax just to give benefits to the local mafia of LPG and I have also written a letter in this regard to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as he held the portfolio of petroleum and natural gas for four years before taking the charge of PM and therefore he knew the market dimensions of LPG very well and must take actions to resolve the matter amicably,” he said.
It is worth-mentioning here that 4500 metric tons of LPG is consumed on daily basis during the peak winter season in Pakistan while we have to import 2500 metric tons to meet this demand as only 30 out of 144 companies have license to produce LPG locally. A large number of domestic consumers uses LPG cylinders during winter season because of the persistent load shedding of the natural gas.