ISLAMABAD - The Finance Ministry on Tuesday suspended additional two percent general sales tax (GST) on all unregistered petroleum dealers for two weeks.
Finance Secretary Dr Waqar Masood informed the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue that the government suspended the notification on Tuesday and gave two weeks to unregistered petroleum dealers for registration.  According to a senior government official, 95% petrol pumps in the country are unregistered and the increase in GST has led to a hike in oil prices for consumers across the country.  Earlier, the Petroleum Ministry instructed the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) to collect 19 percent GST from unregistered fuel stations. The oil marketing companies (OMCs) and petroleum dealers jacked up the prices of petroleum products by up to Rs 2.70/litre across the country owing to hike in GST.
After the imposition of the GST, the petrol price has gone up by Rs1.72/litre, diesel by Rs1.80/litre, high octane blended component (HOBC) by Rs2.70/litre, kerosene oil by Rs1.60/litre and light diesel oil (LDO) by Rs1.54/litre. The current prices are: Petrol-Rs102.35/litre, HSD-Rs107.30, HOBC-Rs139.10, kerosene oil-Rs96.19 and LDO is Rs91.44 per litre.