RAWALPINDI: Petrol filling stations witnessed long queues of vehicles on Tuesday evening as people scurried to get fuel after news of another increase in prices started making rounds.

However, the government quickly refuted the news with Finance Minister Miftah Ismail taking to twitter to clarify that there would be no increase.

“In the pre-budget seminar I never even spoke about petroleum prices. Channels running these tickers are doing a disservice to their viewers. There will be no increase in prices today and there is no summary or plan to raise prices,” Miftah Ismail tweeted.

Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb also dispelled the impression of any further surge in petroleum prices, saying that speculation about an increase in prices of petroleum products was absolutely false.

The government has not taken any decision regarding a further increase in petrol and diesel prices, she said in her tweet.

However, people did not buy the clarification and rushed to fuel stations to get their vehicles’ tanks filled at the rate of Rs210 per litre.

Mohammad Irfan, a manager of a petrol filling station, told Dawn that some petrol stations had run out of stock.

“People are buying extra fuel and are getting their tanks filled,” he added.

Faiq Hussain, a motorcyclist on PWD Road, said he was heading to a petrol filling station as there were reports that prices would be increased further on Tuesday night.

Mohammad Afsar, another motorist on Jhelum Road, said he visited various fuel stations but they had run out of stock.

He said he took a chance at a petrol filling station near DHA Phase-II where he had to wait for three hours for his turn.

When contacted, Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association spokesman Noman Butt said earlier, supply had been stopped by the oil marketing companies, but later they released the tankers after clarifications by federal ministers Miftah Ismail and Marriyum Aurangzeb.

However, he said people were still queuing up outside petrol filling stations.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2022