5 Nov 2026 · 11:26 UTC

PM orders cancellation of licences of petrol pumps denying fuel subsidy

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday directed authorities to cancel the licences of petrol pumps that fail to facilitate registered beneficiaries under the Prime Minister’s Fuel Relief Programme. Chairing a meeting to review progress on the programme, the prime minister expressed satisfaction over its implementation and transparency. “Alhamdulillah, the simplification of registration and subsidy disbursement procedures has led to an increase in registrations, enabling more deserving citizens to benefit from the facility,” he said. He described the technology-based transparent subsidy scheme as a potential game changer for similar public welfare initiatives in the future. The prime minister also appreciated Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima, Federal Secretary IT Zarar Hashim Khan and their team for developing an effective monitoring system and dashboard for the scheme. During the meeting, officials briefed the participants that a total of 15,519,282 citizens had registered under the subsidy programme so far. These included 15.06 million motorcycle owners and 449,000 owners of vehicles with engine capacities of up to 800cc. The briefing further revealed that 63,153,685 fuel subsidy tokens had been issued, of which 59,445,347 had been redeemed. Payments amounting to Rs28.6 billion had been made under the fuel subsidy scheme as of November 4, 2026, the meeting was told. Separate call centres have also been established for consumers and petrol pumps to provide information about the programme and address complaints, officials added. The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema, Minister for Climate Change Musadik Malik, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik, Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani, Prime Minister’s Special Assistant Tariq Bajwa, Special Assistant on Energy Lt Gen (retd) Zafar Iqbal and senior government officials.