ISLAMABAD: The government and representatives of petroleum dealers will hold fresh talks on Thursday to resolve differences over the payment mechanism for the Prime Minister’s fuel relief package.
A meeting between government officials and petrol dealers is scheduled for 4pm in Islamabad and will be chaired by the petroleum minister.
The discussions are expected to centre on how dealers will be reimbursed for the subsidy provided to eligible consumers under the relief programme.
The negotiations resumed after the Petrol Pump Owners Association announced on Wednesday that its members would not implement the scheme until their concerns over the payment process were addressed.
The dealers’ decision had raised questions over the implementation of the government’s fuel subsidy initiative.
The association’s official, Noman Ali Butt, said the dealers supported the objective of providing relief to consumers but had reservations about the mechanism through which the subsidy would be paid.
He claimed that petrol dealers were not properly consulted before the scheme was introduced and said neither the petroleum ministry nor relevant authorities had clearly explained the reimbursement procedure.
Butt said dealers needed a firm assurance that subsidy payments would be made on time before they could fully implement the programme.
“How can dealers operate the scheme without a guarantee of payment?” he questioned.
The association also objected to the scheme being introduced without adequately taking petrol pump owners into confidence.
Under the package, motorcycles, rickshaws and Qingqi vehicles are eligible for subsidised fuel of up to 20 litres per month, with fuel to be obtained in instalments of up to five litres through a token system.
Cars with engines of up to 800cc can receive relief on up to 30 litres per month, with a maximum of 10 litres available per transaction through the token mechanism.
Eligible consumers can register by sending an SMS in the following format:
REG [CNIC] [Vehicle No] [Province Code] [Registration Date]
The message should be sent to 9771.
The registration date must be entered in DDMMYYYY format.
Province codes are:
I — Islamabad
S — Sindh
P — Punjab
K — Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
B — Balochistan
A — Azad Jammu and Kashmir
G — Gilgit-Baltistan
Once registration is confirmed, consumers are required to send TOK to 9771 before going to a participating petrol station.
A token will then be issued for availing the applicable fuel relief.
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