• Association calls off strike for 15 days in late-night development after govt assurances
• Most fuel stations remain open as rival group decides to stay away from protest

LAHORE: A split among petroleum dealers blunted the impact of Thursday’s nationwide shutdown call, with petrol pumps remaining open in most urban and semi-urban areas across the country.

However, late on Thursday night, the All Pakistan Petroleum Pump Owners Association (APPPOA) called off the shutdown for 15 days.

In a video message, APPPOA Vice Chairman Noman Butt said the government had agreed to move a summary within 15 days for implementing the increase in dealers’ commission approved in December last year. It had also agreed to review the issue of daily fuel pricing within the same period. APPPOA Chairman Humayun Khan also announced an end to the shutdown call.

In December, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had approved an increase in dealers’ commission from Rs8.64 to Rs9.98 per litre in two phases by June 2026. However, the federal cabinet withheld its implementation, linking it to the complete digitalisation of fuel stocks and sales.

The association’s rival group had already distanced itself from the shutdown call, significantly reducing its impact.

Earlier in the day, a majority of pumps in Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and other major cities of Punjab remained open, while Peshawar witnessed the closure of around 70 per cent of fuel stations.

However, there were reports of pump closures in rural areas in various parts of the country and along GT Road.

“All pump owners [nearly 450] in Lahore rejected the strike call given by one group of the petroleum dealers’ association. Therefore, they kept their pumps open as usual,” an owner of several petrol pumps in Lahore said. “There are many groups within the association. Everyone speaks his own words,” he added.

Another pump owner said they rejected the strike call in view of their agreements with oil marketing companies (OMCs).

“Our agreement binds us not to engage in such activities, as we are required to keep our pumps open round the clock under the agreement with our OMC,” he explained.

In southern Punjab, district administrations reportedly foiled attempts by owners to close their petrol pumps.

However, former petroleum dealers’ association president Zafar Mazari claimed that 90pc of petrol pumps from Karachi to Rahim Yar Khan remained closed on the association’s call.

“I travelled from Karachi to Hyderabad on Thursday. I saw that 90pc of the pumps on GT Road were closed,” claimed Mazari, president of the Rahim Yar Khan District Petroleum Dealers Association.

However, he admitted that the association was divided into two major groups, the Sami Khan group of Karachi and the Humayun Khan group of Khanewal.

According to Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) Chief Adviser Malik Khuda Bukhsh, almost all petrol pumps across the country remained open, barring some pumps in Peshawar owned by the rival group that wanted the shutdown.

Bukhsh said Federal Minister for Energy Ali Pervaiz Malik had assured a PPDA delegation that the government would make every possible effort to address the genuine issues and valid demands of petroleum dealers within the next two weeks.

Closure in Peshawar

In Peshawar, more than 70pc of petrol pumps remained closed following the strike call.

PPDA Khyber Pakhtunkhwa President Abdul Majid told Dawn that around 30pc of fuel stations in the provincial capital remained open.

Majid said he kept his own fuel station open throughout the day, as did others affiliated with his association. Besides, he added that company-operated petrol pumps also remained open.

The APPPOA had on Tuesday announced the closure of around 15,000 petrol pumps across the country from Wednesday night after the first round of negotiations with the government over daily petroleum pricing and dealers’ commission failed.

Besides opposing daily fuel pricing, dealers are demanding an eight per cent commission, which now works out to about Rs25 per litre instead of the existing Rs8.64 per litre on both petrol and diesel. They are also seeking an end to supply quotas imposed by OMCs.

Office-bearers of the association in some cities, including Faisalabad, claimed to have observed the strike. However, most petrol pumps in Toba Tek Singh and several other cities remained open.

Most pumps in Sialkot, Narowal and other cities of upper Punjab also remained open on Thursday.

Khaleeq Kiani from Islamabad, Manzoor Ali from Peshawar, Tariq Saeed from Toba Tek Singh, Malik Irfanul Haq from Rahim Yar Khan, Abid Mahmood from Narowal and Aamir Shafaat Khan from Karachi contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2026