The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has approved a 15.5% increase in petroleum dealers’ margins on motor gasoline and high-speed diesel, raising the margin by Rs. 1.34 per liter to Rs. 9.98 from Rs. 8.64.

The revised margin will take effect from September 1, 2026.

The decision ends a long-running dispute between petroleum dealers and the government over the implementation of the previously approved margin increase. The Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association had announced a nationwide strike from August 15 but later withdrew the plan.

The dealers’ margin increase had been pending since December 2025, when the ECC initially approved it. Its implementation was subsequently tied by the federal cabinet to progress on the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority’s digitization targets.

Petroleum dealers had rejected the condition, maintaining that digitization largely falls under the responsibility of oil marketing companies. The latest ECC decision removes that condition and clears the way for the higher dealer margin.

The decision does not increase the margin of oil marketing companies (OMCs), which currently stands at Rs. 7.87 per liter.

The government had earlier approved a Rs. 1.22 per liter increase in the OMC margin, with Rs. 0.61 initially proposed for implementation from December 2025 and the remaining amount linked to digitization targets. Neither portion has been implemented so far.

According to Topline Research, the latest move could increase the chances of the pending OMC margin increase being implemented as well. The dealer and OMC margin revisions were approved under the same summary and were based on CPI indexation for FY2024-25.

The last OMC margin increase was implemented in October 2023, when it rose from Rs. 6 to Rs. 7.87 per liter. The pending revision has therefore remained unresolved for nearly three years.