The sudden closure of two Iranian border crossings on October 17 immediately drove the open-market price of a 12-kilogram cylinder up by 56 percent to 7,000 Pakistani rupees. This price spike has devastated tens of thousands of auto-rickshaw and Qingqi operators whose daily net earnings have dropped by more than half. Amid 9.6 percent national inflation, high petrol rates, and steep vehicle rental fees, the financial strain is forcing working-class families to reduce their daily food intake.
Key points
Disagreements over security, smuggling, and import paperwork between Pakistan and Iran tr…: Disagreements over security, smuggling, and import paperwork between Pakistan and Iran triggered the severe fuel disruption.
Transport operators cannot offset soaring fuel prices because passengers consistently ref…: Transport operators cannot offset soaring fuel prices because passengers consistently refuse to pay higher transit fares.
Extreme loss of income is driving transport workers to cut back household food consumptio…: Extreme loss of income is driving transport workers to cut back household food consumption to twice daily.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Traders said the price of a 12kg cylinder surged 56 per cent to 7,000 Pakistani rupees (US$25.30) within days of border closures triggered by the war in Iran, or about 583 rupees per kg on the open market.
LAHORE: For 13 years, Rashid Ali has driven a three-wheeled motorised rickshaw around Lahore in eastern Pakistan.
His day starts at 6am and sometimes does not end until midnight, but he was long able to make US$6.50 a day - enough for his family's bare essentials. Now, with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices surging he doesn't even make half that.
Ali, 33, is among thousands of Pakistani drivers who run their vehicles on LPG, which is sold in cylinders and mainly used for cooking and heating.
Majeed Ghauri, chairman of the Awami Rickshaw Union, calls it "the fuel of the poor." He said about 70 per cent of its members' 43,000 auto-rickshaws and nearly 8,000 Qingqis - motorcycle-based three-wheelers that carry several passengers on set routes - run on LPG.
LPG prices have surged since Oct 17, when two Iranian border crossings…
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