The government and petroleum dealers have resumed talks in a bid to resolve the deadlock over the petrol relief package.A key meeting between government officials and representatives of petrol dealers will be held in Islamabad today at 4pm, chaired by the petroleum minister. The meeting will focus on finalising the mechanism for payments to dealers under the fuel relief package.The talks were revived after petrol dealers announced on Wednesday that they would not provide fuel under the relief scheme because an agreement on the payment mechanism had not been reached.

The latest meeting is expected to address the dealers’ concerns and pave the way for implementation of the package.It is to be noted that the Petrol Pump Owners Association on Wednesday refused to implement the Prime Minister’s fuel price relief scheme. “The government’s subsidy scheme is good but we hae reservations over the scheme’s payment mechanism,” owners body’s official Noman Butt said in a statement.He said the didn’t consult with the dealers before initiating the relief scheme.

He said the ministry didn’t communicate about the scheme, neither the Prime Minister’s House or OGRA taken into confidence. “The relief scheme is being imposed on petrol pumps without earlier informatiion,” Noman Ali Butt complained.He said the procedure of repayment of subsidy amount to petrol pumps has been unclear. “We can consider over the relief scheme if the government gives us guarantee of the payment”. “How could the dealers run the scheme when there is no guarantee of the payment,” he questioned.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)