Transporters threaten to increase fares

KARACHI - After increase in the petroleum products prices, the transporters community has threatened to increase the fares by up to Rs2 in the coming days. Karachi Transport Ittehad Chairman Irshad Bukhari told The Nation that the transporters have become tired of protesting against the price-hike and now its the time to increase the fares. We demand the government to decrease the price, otherwise, we will not hesitate to hike it, he added. The CNG Dealers Association is also conducting the meeting on 5th April regarding the technical aspects of the price change, said the chairman of the association Khuda Bakhsh. According to an economic analyst and researcher Dr Nadeem Ahmed, the petroleum products are being sold on higher rates than the price in the international market. The profit on the petroleum products is directly going into the governments pocket which is about Rs214 billion in taxes on oil products he added. Meanwhile, the leaders of the other organizations including Labor Party Pakistan, Karachi Goods Carrier, Tehreek-e-Ibne-Adam have also condemned the price-hike and warned the government of countrywide protests. They said that its an economic murder of the people, who already are facing the inflation, unemployment and the power shortages. The increase will directly hit the poor people of the country, whereas, the rich are enjoying all the benefits they added. They said that the country is being run on the IMF and World Banks policies.

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