Govt ready to accept legitimate demands of PPDA: Hammad Azhar

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar on Thursday has said that government is ready to accept legitimate demands of the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers’ Association, ARY News reported.

Azhar in his statement claimed that few groups want to increase their profit margin upto Rs9, which is unacceptable to the government.

The minister urged the dealers to reconsider their strike based on the inconvenience being faced by the general public.

Energy Minister Hammad Azhar said that a summary for an increase in profit margin of the petroleum dealers’ association was already with the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) and the matter will be resolved in the next meeting.

“Legitimate demands will be accepted, illegitimate ones will be not,” declared the minister.

Most of the petrol pumps across the country discontinued selling fuel as petroleum dealers went on a nationwide strike for an indefinite period in protest against low profit margin, troubling commuters and motorists.

Almost all petrol pumps were shut in Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta and other cities of the country. Panic gripped major cities on Wednesday as citizens rushed to petrol pumps to top up tanks of their vehicles.

Pakistan State Oil (PSO), Shell Pakistan, HASCOL, and Gas and Oil (GO) Pakistan have announced that their Company Owned and Company Operated (COCO) stations will stay open during the strike.