LPG Price Jump Leaves Lahore Rickshaw Drivers Skipping Meals
Photo: Reuters/Akhtar Soomro via CNA, Rashid Ali waiting for passengers in Lahore
Rashid Ali has driven a rickshaw around Lahore for 13 years, but he says the maths no longer works. The gas that runs his three wheeler now costs so much that a full day on the road leaves him with less than half of what he used to take home, and his family has cut back to two meals a day.
Ali is 33, a father of two, and his day starts at 6 in the morning and can run to midnight. For years he made about $6.50 a day, just enough for his family's bare needs. Now, he says, he is lucky to make $3.
Reuters reported that liquefied petroleum gas, known as LPG, has shot up in price since 17 October, when two Iranian border crossings closed and imports stopped. Traders blame the closure for the jump, in the latest energy shock since the war between the United States and Iran began in February.
The numbers tell the story plainly:
- A 12 kg LPG cylinder jumped 56 percent within days of the closure, to Rs7,000, or about Rs583 per kg in the open market
- Before the closure, Pakistan imported about 7,000 metric tons of LPG a day from Iran, according to the Pakistan LPG Association
- Ali pays Rs600 a day to rent his rickshaw, and fills up four or five times a day at Rs300 to Rs400 a time
- On top of that, he pays Rs11,000 a month for his home
Majeed Ghauri, chairman of the Awami Rickshaw Union, calls LPG "the fuel of the poor". He said about 70 percent of the union's 43,000 auto rickshaws and nearly 8,000 Qingqis, the small motorcycle based vehicles that run set routes, use LPG. When this fuel gets dear, thousands of drivers feel it at once.
Passengers feel it too, and that makes it worse for drivers. Ali said a trip that should cost Rs200 or Rs250 now brings offers of Rs80, Rs100 or Rs150. One passenger, Mohammad Ramzan, told Reuters that when a driver asked Rs500 for a ride across the city, he offered half and walked away when the driver said no.
"Previously, when LPG was cheap, we could earn a decent income," Ali said. "Now, it is just not possible to get by on seven or eight hundred rupees, is it?"
Who closed the crossings is itself disputed. The government of Balochistan, the province that borders Iran, pointed to security and smuggling. Iran's foreign ministry said technical issues were to blame. Iran's ambassador later said Iran had imposed no limits at all, including on LPG exports, and blamed changes in Pakistan's import paperwork.
For ordinary people, the row over paperwork matters less than the price at the pump and the shop. Inflation in Pakistan hit 9.6 percent in October, and the central bank raised interest rates last week to 12 percent, pointing to energy and wheat prices. The prime minister has also told banks to speed up loans for small businesses, farmers and home buyers, a sign of how tight money has become for working families. Petrol hit a record Rs458 a litre on 3 April and is still about 40 percent above its price before the war. The petrol price cut that took effect today, petrol at Rs374.51 and diesel at Rs395.20 for one day only, brought brief relief, while local refineries are already pushing back on who carries the cost of fuel pricing.
What this means for you is simple. If you ride a rickshaw, expect more haggling and more drivers turning work down. If your home runs on LPG cylinders for cooking, the same price jump is hitting your kitchen. And for drivers like Ali, every extra rupee on gas comes straight out of food for his children. He told Reuters that back home at midday, his two boys still needed their lunch, and he would go out again until late at night, hoping to bring something home for them to eat.
Sources
Reuters: 'Fuel of the poor' LPG soars in Pakistan, forcing rickshaw drivers to cut meals
Geo News (Reuters): 'Fuel of the poor' LPG soars in Pakistan, forcing rickshaw drivers to cut meals
Watch for whether the Iranian border crossings reopen, and for any government move on LPG prices, because that will decide how fast drivers like Ali can earn a living again.
#LPG #Pakistan #Lahore #Rickshaw #FuelPrices #PakistanNews #BreakingNews #Economy
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