After the price of fuel went up, goods transporters said they would raise their rates by 20%.

Malik Shahzad Awan, the president of the Pakistan Goods Transport Alliance, has fiercely spoken out against the recent rise in the price of oil products. He has also said that freight charges will go up by 20% across the country.

Malik Shahzad Awan said that in the last two months, the price of diesel has gone up by Rs78 per liter and the price of petrol has gone up by Rs68 per liter. This has made it much more expensive for carriers to do business.

He said that if the rise in oil costs was unavoidable, the federal government should lower other levies, such as toll taxes, to help the transportation industry.

He said that even if the economy is weak, transporters are still helping with business activities like importing and exporting. But the constant rise in oil costs affects everyone in Pakistan, not only transporters. It causes a new wave of inflation.

Prices of oil went up to make sure there was always enough fuel: Ali Pervaiz Malik

Malik Shahzad Awan said that because of bad decisions made by the federal and Punjab governments, transporters had to go on a statewide strike for 10 days.

He claimed that the agreements made during the strike with Punjab Senior Minister Maryam Aurangzeb and Punjab Transport Minister Bilal Akbar had not yet been put into action.

He also claimed that the promises made by Federal Minister for Communications Abdul Aleem Khan have not yet been kept.

The head of the Pakistan Goods Transport Alliance told the federal, Punjab, and Sindh governments to quickly carry out the agreements they reached with carriers.

If the policies aren’t looked at again, all transportation in Pakistan would stop, and the federal government will be fully responsible.