Oil-sector digitisation goal pushed to March 2027

According to The Express Tribune, the Economic Coordination Committee has moved the oil-sector digitisation target to March 23, 2027. The forum took up a proposal from the Petroleum Division and agreed to set that deadline for petroleum dealers, dropping an earlier condition that tied the margin rise to digitisation. The change followed a strike call by dealers' associations and a meeting chaired by the petroleum minister on July 22, 2026.

The committee approved a Rs1.34 per litre rise in dealers' margins on motor spirit and high-speed diesel, calculated from annual national CPI figures for 2023-24 and 2024-25, bounded by a 5% floor and a 10% ceiling. Separately, the Petroleum Division has proposed a Rs1.22 per litre revision for oil marketing companies on the same CPI basis.

Dealers' associations had sought delinking from digitisation and a margin fixed at 8% of consumer prices, and the issue was agreed for resubmission to the ECC. Ogra's comments on the summary, sent on July 31, 2026, were still awaited, while the Finance Division endorsed the increase and suggested partial delinking covering 75% of the hike.