Owners pause petrol pump strike for two months

The Bangladesh Petrol Pump and Tanker Owners' Unity Council has announced a two-month suspension of a strike action at petrol pumps aimed at pressing home a series of demands, including higher commission on fuel sales.

The work stoppage announced by the council began at 6:00am on Sunday and was expected to continue until 2:00pm. However, the strike was called off around 1pm.

Until then, most petrol pumps in Dhaka and across the country remained closed, while the extraction, transportation, and distribution of fuel from depots were suspended.

The move caught many members of the public by surprise as they took to Facebook groups such as Traffic Alert, and BikeBD to ask about the closure of the petrol pumps. Some of them wrote about the problems they faced after failing to get fuel.

Although petrol pumps were closed, CNG filling stations were open. As usual, long queues of vehicles were seen in front of the CNG filling stations due to the gas shortage.

Mohammad Nazmul Haque, convenor of Bangladesh Petrol Pump and Tanker Lorry Owners Unity Council, told bdnews24.com: “One of our 10 demands was to increase the commission on fuel sales. The ministry has accepted it and said they would settle the matter within 15 days.”

“Since fulfilling our demands requires the involvement of multiple ministries, we’ve given them a two-month deadline and have decided to suspend our protest for now. However, if our demands are not met within that time, we will move forward with a more intensified programme.”

The unity council has placed the following 10 demands:

Fuel sales commission should be raised to a minimum of 7 percent.

Leasing fee of lands owned by the Roads and Highways Department should be taken back to the previous amount.

The BSTI should run only the dispensing unit stumping and measurement scrutiny programme like before.

Underground tank calibration, deep rod test fee and registration system should be revoked.

Petrol pump business is not an industry but a commission and agent-based business. Therefore, rules to get the environment, BRC, factory and Fire Service Department should be annulled.

Direct sale of fuel without the dealership of a marketing company must be stopped.

Renewal and issuance of driving licenses should be made easier to address the issue of the tank lorry driver crisis.

Tank lorries should not be stopped randomly in the name of checking their documents. The government's decision to check the documents at oil depot gates should be implemented. The authorities must issue an inter-district route permit for all tank lorries.