PESHAWAR: The Customs Department must go hard on the unregistered dealers of petroleum who facilitate the unregistered petrol units in order to stop the sale of smuggled petrol at various districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The local owners of petrol pumps have expressed worries about the sale and purchase of petroleum at unauthorized units in D I Khan, Waziristan and Kohat regions and asked the high-ups to take up the matter with the customs officials in order to stop the aliens’ entry and discourage the business of oil being run in the shadow of darkness.
The Anti-Smuggling Organization in Peshawar informed the Customs Today on Monday that there has been no such activity nor has the division received any complaint in this regard.
The ASO works to stop the smuggling of goods between borders, and efforts will be made to eliminate the chances for dealers to smuggle petrol into the bordering areas for establishing monopoly by providing low rates, it added.
Earlier, petrol pumps owners in Dera Ismail Khan asked the authorities to stop the sale of illegal petrol at the shops. A shopkeeper told Customs Today that he is illegally selling petrol to earn livelihood because it’s impossible for him to buy and sell petrol from customized dealers and importers.
We sell one liter of petrol at less than Rs10 from the price fixed by the PSO and other state oil companies, he added.
In the same manner, the districts close to Pakistan-Iran border enjoy low rate at crude oil due to the fact that a huge quantity of petrol is being smuggled and provided to the local shopkeepers through dealers and distributors to earn a handsome amount of profit which is causing a big loss to the national revenue.
