LAHORE: A petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the recent increase in the prices of petroleum products. The federal government, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), and others have been made respondents in the petition.
The increase in petroleum products’ prices by the government is due to additional sales tax collection, the petitioner argued, adding that due to scaling up prices, inflation will also be increased across the country.
According to the petitioner, the government’s claim regarding the increase in the prices across the world is “baseless”. He said the oil prices’ increase is a violation of the Article 14-9 and Article 18 of the constitution.
The petitioner further said that in the rest of the world, petroleum prices have been reduced while increased only in Pakistan.
He said collecting more than 17 per cent tax upon petroleum products is unconstitutional; therefore, the court should nullify the government’s decision for charging additional sales tax and order for the reduction in prices.
