Govt and JI Say Fuel Levy Talks in Final Stage, More Relief on Table

Photo: Foreign Office via Express Tribune (Ishaq Dar meets the Jamaat-e-Islami delegation in Islamabad)

Talks between the government and Jamaat-e-Islami over the petroleum levy have reached their final stage, according to the JI side, with relief for farmers and owners of cars up to 1,000cc now on the table. The two sides meet again tomorrow, and the JI chief will then decide whether his mid-November march to Islamabad goes ahead.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar met a JI delegation led by Liaquat Baloch in Islamabad on Tuesday to talk about petroleum prices. Dawn reported that the Foreign Office described the talks as candid discussions on practical steps to ease the burden on the common man, with a focus on low income citizens.

Both sides agreed to keep talking in the coming days to work out a way forward on energy pricing and public relief. Dar, the statement said, repeated the government's commitment to public welfare and said sustained talks across party lines were the way to deal with national economic problems.

Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Sanaullah and Tariq Bajwa were in the room from the government side, along with the finance secretary and the Petroleum Division's special secretary.

After the meeting, Baloch spoke to reporters and gave the JI version of where things stand. Business Recorder reported that he said talks on removing the petroleum levy and giving relief to consumers had entered their final stage.

He claimed both sides had accepted that scrapping the levy was essential, and that the government had agreed to relief for the agriculture sector and for owners of vehicles up to 1,000cc. That would go further than the current relief scheme, which covers motorcycles, rickshaws and vehicles up to 800cc and started across the country on 17 September.

JI put six proposals on the table. They included scrapping the levy, a relief package, cheaper public transport, and extending relief to vehicles above 800cc and to farmers. Baloch said four key points were discussed on Tuesday.

The next steps are now set out day by day. Baloch said the government would finish its working paper on Tuesday, both teams would meet again on Wednesday, and JI chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, who is in Turkiye and has been briefed by phone, would review the draft agreement before announcing what the party does next.

JI has been pushing this case for months. Its campaign against the levy grew through August, and on 20 September it started a march towards Islamabad from Karachi. The march was paused at Multan on 22 September after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asked for more talks, and on 27 October the two sides agreed to a six member committee, three from each side, to work on expanding the fuel relief scheme and phasing out the levy.

The warning has stayed in place throughout. Baloch repeated on Tuesday that if the package does not bring real relief, JI will keep its promise to the people and its protest march will set off from Multan towards Islamabad in mid-November. "Our protests will continue, and we will also engage in negotiations because we want to secure relief for the people," he said.

One figure in the talks links straight to the fuel price row already running this week. Dawn reported that under a newly announced arrangement, oil refineries would bear a monthly impact of Rs15 billion, which would allow a Rs14.71 cut in the petrol price for consumers. That is the same dispute behind the refineries pushing back on the petrol pricing deal, and it sits next to today's one day petrol price cut, the LPG price jump in Lahore and the prime minister telling banks to speed up loans for small businesses and farmers.

What this means for you is straightforward. Nothing is agreed in writing yet, and a claim from one side in talks is not the same as a signed deal. But if the levy is phased out, or relief is widened to 1,000cc cars and farm vehicles, it would touch a lot of households that feel every rupee at the pump. Tomorrow's meeting is the test of whether that happens.

Sources

Dawn: JI and Dar hold 'candid discussions' on fuel relief, agree to continue talks in coming days

Business Recorder: Govt-JI talks on petroleum levy removal enter final stage

Express Tribune: Dar reaffirms govt's commitment to public relief in meeting with JI delegation

Watch tomorrow's meeting and Hafiz Naeemur Rehman's announcement on whether the mid-November march goes ahead.

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