KARACHI: A petrol crisis hit Karachi on Tuesday as a large number of fuel stations ran short of their stocks in the absence of supply for the past three days due to an oil tankers’ strike against the recent imposition of taxes.

The strike that entered its fourth day triggered panic buying from the motorists, forcing a large number of fuel stations to wrap up their business much before the scheduled time.

Although in the second half of the day the oil tankers’ association called off the strike after successful dialogue with the authorities in Islamabad, the industry sources said it would take at least 24 hours to normalise the situation.

“There are some 400 petrol pumps in Karachi alone,” said Shabbir Suleman of the All Pakistan CNG and Petroleum Dealers.

“Most of these pumps had been operating on their stock without any supply for the past three days. The stock finally came to an end on the fourth day.

“The tankers [association] have called off the strike but the situation has not changed on ground. It would take 24 hours at least to get normalised.”

According to Oil Tanker Contractors Association (OTCA) representatives, tanker owners had taken up the issue with the federal government almost a year ago. The government side, which mostly comprised officials working on deputation, always failed to follow up with the provincial authorities, an official said. It was the fourth time that the OTCA gave a strike call in almost 10 months, he said, adding that they rejected ‘double taxation’ and sought early resolution of the issue.

The OTCA went on strike and suspended supplies of petroleum products across the country in protest against the imposition of general sales tax on services by the provinces without an input tax adjustment settlement at the federal level. The Sindh government was the first to bring oil tankers under the ambit of sales tax on services, followed by Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The federal government swung into action last Friday when the office-bearers of OTCA reported that some key cities had stocks of petroleum products for only four to six days and a strike could immediately break down the supply chain and cause public unrest. The situation worsened on Tuesday when long queues of motorists were seen outside some fuel stations amid reports of petroleum crisis.

A number of fuel stations were closed in the middle of the day after consuming their fuel stock.

“Some 22,000 tankers are involved in supply business in Karachi alone,” said Israr Ahmed Shinwari, the spokesman for OTCA. “We have called off the strike and resumed the supply across the country. The situation at petrol pumps, we hope, will improve within the next few hours.”

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2017