Pakistan faces rampant petrol smuggling, govt on high alert

Islamabad [Pakistan], October 10 (ANI): Pakistani authorities have decided to initiate a crackdown against the smuggling of petroleum products in the country, Ary News reported.
It has been disclosed that petroleum products worth around 396 billion Pakistani rupees are being smuggled into the country. The authorities have decided to launch a crackdown on illegal petrol pumps,and a plan of more measures, has also been prepared to curb smuggling of petroleum products in the country.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in Pakistan has also submitted its recommendations for amending the laws related to petroleum. FBR is a federal law enforcement agency of Pakistan that investigates tax crimes, suspicious accumulation of wealth, money-laundering make regulation of collection of tax.
It has been noted that the smuggling of petroleum products is not only damaging the local refineries of Pakistan, but it is also causing revenue loss of billion of rupees annually to the country. To avoid the billions of rupees losses in revenue and protect the local refineries from the onslaught of the illicit import from Iran, the government is evolving a plan involving strict measures against the smuggling of petroleum products.
According to Dawn, the smuggled Iranian oil is stockpiled in underground storage facilities located in varipous Pakistani cities such as Gwadar, Panjgur, Mashkhail and Quetta, from where it is further transported into vehicles with secret compartments, for onward supply to the rest of the country.
Dawn also noted that over 2 million people in Balochistan are dependant on the smuggling of Iranian oil into the country to sustain their livelihoods due to the area being hit by terrorism and having scarce economic opportunities in any other area of the economy.
According to Ary News, it has been proposed by the government to empower district administrations to seal unauthorized petrol pumps and filling stations. It was also suggested that the districts would be empowered to confiscate the machinery and equipment of the illegal petrol pumps.
Government sources said that a proposal of digitalization of petrol pumps across the country has also been under consideration. Various other proposals such as the introduction of sim-based technology at petrol pumps to monitor the sales, real-time monitoring of stocks at petrol pumps, and preparation of a digital application and GIS mobile application to trace illegal petrol filling stations are some key suggestions put forward. (ANI)