KARACHI: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) on Saturday demanded the immediate abolition of the petroleum levy, terming it an ‘extortionist tax’ on the public and rejecting the federal government’s ‘token relief measures’ as insufficient.
Addressing a press conference at the party’s headquarters Idara Noor-i-Haq, JI chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman criticised the government for collecting staggering revenues while offering minimal passthrough benefits to citizens.
‘The government collected Rs1,567 billion in petroleum levy last year and continues to extract roughly Rs150bn each month yet it is extending a meagre Rs 26bn in relief to the public,’ he said.
He demanded that the scope of fuel relief be expanded from 800cc vehicles to include vehicles up to 1300cc, as well as agricultural tractors used by farmers.Countering the government’s stance that removing the levy would disproportionately benefit luxury car owners, the JI leader proposed levying a Rs200 per litre tax exclusively on vehicles exceeding 1800cc while slashing the tax burden for the middle class by Rs30 to Rs40 per litre. He urged the government to formally announce the total removal of the petroleum levy in the upcoming federal budget.
Hafiz Naeem contended that continuous agitation by JI had forced the administration to scrutinise refineries and announce limited relief, though he maintained these steps remained woefully inadequate.
‘Oil marketing companies owe Rs400bn in unpaid levies tangled up in litigation. Recovering these dues alone could significantly crash petrol prices,’ he said, further pointing out that local refineries had escalated profits by up to 1,000 per cent under windfall margins without transferring benefits to consumers. He also questioned why the savings of Rs4,000 to Rs5,000bn generated from renegotiated Independent Power Producer (IPP) agreements had notyet reflected in consumer utility tariffs.
Earlier, accompanied by JI Karachi chief Monem Zafar and local municipal officials, Hafiz Naeem inaugurated the Shafee Family Park in Block D of North Nazimabad, built under the Town Municipal Corporation (TMC) North Nazimabad. Speaking at the inauguration, he said that Karachi ranks 170th out of 173 liveable cities globally-a damning indictment of those ruling the province.
He said that the metropolis continues to suffer from severe water shortages under the grip of the tanker mafia. He argued that genuine urban relief requires empowering local government bodies and allocating legitimate financial shares to the city. On national politics, the JI leader reiterated his party’s call for electoral reforms based on proportional representation to ensure true democratic representation. He denounced the practice of political victimisation, citing the cases against PTI founder Imran Khan, while also terming the past unseating of the PDM-era government an unconstitutional precedent that derailed political stability.