Islamabad - The government on Wednesday increased the price of petrol by Rs 5 per litre, taking it to Rs 123.30 per litre which is the new high in the country’s history.

The government has increased the prices of almost all the petroleum products for the last 15 days of September (Sep 16 to Sep 30).

As per the notification issued by Finance Division, the prices of petrol have been increased by Rs 5 per litre, high speed diesel (HSD) by Rs 5.01 per litre, kerosene oil (SKO) by Rs 5.46 per litre and light diesel oil (LDO) by Rs 5.92 per litre.

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) had Tuesday recommended an increase of upto Rs 10.50 per litre in prices of various PoL products for the last fortnight of September.

Petrol is used in cars and motorbikes and after the increase its price has gone up from the existing Rs118.30 per litre to Rs 123.30 per litre. High speed diesel is widely used in agriculture and transport sectors. After the increase, the price of HSD has been jacked up to Rs 120.04 per litre from the existing Rs 115.03 per litre. Kerosene is used in remote areas for cooking purpose where Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is not available. After the hike, the price of kerosene went up to Rs 92.26 per litre from the existing Rs 86.80 per litre. The price of light diesel oil also increased to Rs 90.68 per litre from Rs 84.77 per litre.

Although Ogra had recommended around Rs 1 per litre increase in the price of Petrol, however the government has increased it by Rs 5 per litre. The government has increased Petroleum Levy on Petrol by Rs 3.53 per litre from the existing Rs 2.09 per litre to Rs 5.62 per litre.

Currently, the government is charging 10 percent customs duty and 10.54 percent General Tax on petrol. The government has also imposed Rs2.09 per litre petroleum levy on petrol. Besides, Rs 4.15 inland freight margin, Rs2.97 OMCs margin and Rs3.91 dealer commission is being charged on per litre of petrol.Similarly, on HSD the government is charging 10 percent custom duty and general tax. The government is also charging Rs5.14 per litre petroleum levy on HSD at present. Besides, Rs1.59 inland freight margin, Rs2.97 OMCs margin and Rs3.30 dealer commission is being charged on per litre of HSD. The new prices will be effective from September 16 till September 30.

It merits mentioning here that for the first fortnight of the current month the government had rejected the Ogra summary for up to Rs5.11 per litre decrease in the PoL prices and instead announced nominal decrease in the oil prices. Instead of passing on the entire relief to the consumers, the government had increased petroleum levy on petrol and HSD by Rs2.11 per litre and Rs3.09 per litre respectively for the first fortnight.