RAWALPINDI, Oct 1: The business group of the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) has condemned the latest increase in petroleum prices and warned that it would launch a movement against the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) if it did not stop the trend.
“The raise in the prices of petroleum products is unwarranted. It is unaffordable for the traders’ community and people at large. We will mobilize businessmen and people against this unjustified rise,” said Sohail Anwar Sethi, chief of the RCCI business group. He said there had been 22 per cent increase in the prices of petroleum products since the passage of the budget.
Mr Sethi said the rise in POL prices at a regular interval had become unaffordable for the business community let alone the common man, who is already in dire straits due to skyrocketing prices of daily-use items.
“In case immediate steps are not taken to stop this trend, the economy will reach the brink of collapse,” he warned.
He said the continuing rise in prices, growing unemployment and poverty had also affected the law and order situation. There has been an increase in incidents of dacoities, robberies and other crimes, he said.
Mr Sethi said the business group would soon call a meeting to discuss the issue and devise a strategy for the protest movement against Ogra.
Traders’ representatives including Sheikh Yousaf, Ilyas Goga, Mohammad Naeem, Arshad Chaudhary and Farooq Sarwar also condemned the increase in the petroleum products and said they would extend full support to the business group leader in launching a campaign against the move.
Agencies add: The Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry President, Jalil Ahmed Khan Malik, said the recent increase in the prices of petroleum products would have a negative impact on the national economy.
In a statement, he said the hike would not only result in increase in fares but also the prices of daily-use items.
He called upon the government to withdraw the increase to resolve the problems of the masses.
Meanwhile, opposition parties described the increase in POL prices as ‘terrorism’ by oil supplying companies and a testimony to anti-people policies of the government.
PPP Secretary-General Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said the Oil Companies Advisory Committee was a big mafia which plundered trillions of rupees under the head of oil taxes.
“The salaried and working classes are the worst hit, their household budgets within 15 days have been shattered and their economic backbone broken,” he added.
Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal deputy Secretary-General Liaquat Baloch said the government was plundering the people as in international market prices of petroleum was decreasing, while OCAC was claiming that prices were on the rise.
He said the Ramazan relief package announced by the government seemed to be useless because of the latest rise in the prices of petroleum products.
ARD central leader Syed Zafar Ali Shah said the government wanted to squash the countrymen under the pressure of rising inflation.
The Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan also criticized the hike in petroleum prices, terming it a heavy blow to the poor citizens and consumers.
Analysis done by the CRCP showed that petroleum prices had increased at an average of 71.24 per cent since January 2003. During the same period, per capita income grew at the rate of 13.5 per cent only, IT SAID.