LAHORE: The distributors of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and Awami Rickshaw Union (ARU) have threatened to observe a countrywide strike against the price hike and imposition of the taxes on the import of LPG at a time when the demand of LPG is going to be increased manifold in days to come due to the peak winter season.
Both the trade unions of rickshaw drivers and LPG distributors have unanimously rejected the taxes imposed on the import of LPG while giving a detailed schedule of their joint protest call that would be started next week from Lahore.
Awami Rickshaw Union Chairman Majeed Ghauri announced the protest call of rickshaw drivers, saying that their protest would be held in six phases as it would start from the second week of December while culminating in the second week of January when there would be complete lockdown in the whole country by all the rickshaw drivers.
“Our first protest would be held outside the Lahore Press Club on December 10 while second protest would be staged at Wahdat Road near Iqbal Town on December 13. Similarly, there would also be protests at Kalma Chowk, Liberty and Jail Road on December 17 and 31. An LPG seminar is going to be arranged on December 24 while there will be complete lock jam on January 10 in all over the country by both rickshaw drivers and LPG distributors,” Ghauri said.
Meanwhile, LPG Distributors Association Pakistan Chairman Irfan Khokhar told this scribe that an increase in the tax on LPG’s import would discourage the importers drastically and the domestic consumer would be effected resultantly as the local producers of LPG would have a monopoly in the market because of the absence of imported LPG. The price of LPG per kilogram might increase to over RS 300 from just 95 during the peak winter season.
