Daily fuel price hikes draw concern as consumers demand Relief

KARACHI: Frequent increases in fuel prices have triggered growing concern among consumers and businesses across Pakistan, with questions being raised over the government’s daily pricing mechanism at a time when international oil markets, despite an overall volatile trend, have also recorded declines on individual trading days.
The controversy has intensified as international crude prices declined more than once during the recent period, including falls in Brent crude on September 11 and September 16, while Pakistani consumers continued to face upward revisions in domestic petroleum prices during the broader period.
The situation has prompted a key question over the pricing formula: if increases in international petroleum prices are passed on rapidly to domestic consumers, how and when are declines in the global market reflected in retail prices in Pakistan?
Energy market observers point out that international crude prices are only one component of domestic petroleum pricing. Exchange-rate movements, freight, premiums, taxes, petroleum levy, dealer and marketing margins and the reference period used for international prices can all influence the final retail rate.
However, concerns persist over whether daily adjustments are appropriate for Pakistan, considering that petroleum products being sold at filling stations are not necessarily purchased from international markets on the same day.
Oil imported by Pakistan passes through a procurement and supply chain involving purchase contracts, shipping, port handling, refining or import of finished products, storage, transportation and distribution before reaching consumers.
This has strengthened calls for the government to reconsider the daily mechanism and examine a monthly pricing formula based more closely on actual procurement costs and an appropriate average of petroleum inventories.
Under such a mechanism, proponents argue, international increases comprising provinces with distinct social, cultural and regional circumstances, therefore appropriate representation of federating units was important in the judicial system as well.
He said amendments to the law had brought bar associations alongside bar councils within the scope of government support. The federal government had also increased grants allocated for bar councils and bar associations, he added.
The minister appreciated the Punjab government for increasing grants for bar councils and bar associations.
Referring to the Lawyers Protection Act, Senator Tarar said rules under the law had also been framed and effective implementation of the legislation remained among his priorities, with significant progress having been made in this regard.
The minister said the rapid expansion of private law colleges had created challenges and stressed the need to improve the quality of legal education and introduce an effective assessment system for entry into the legal profession.
He said the process of reforms in the legal sector had been initiated after 2015 and its impact would become more evident in the coming years.
Senator Tarar termed the increasing participation of women in the legal profession a positive development, saying women lawyers had become an important and active part of the legal community.
He urged lawyers not to allow political differences to overshadow their professional responsibilities, stressing that maintaining professional standards and dignity was a collective responsibility.
President Lahore High Court Bar Association, Rawalpindi Bench, Saeed Yousaf Khan, and Secretary General Qasim Mahmood Malik also addressed the ceremony.
Earlier, the minister was warmly received upon arrival at the Lahore High Court Bar, Rawalpindi. He also inaugurated two bar rooms at the association. -APP