A section members of Petrol Pump Owners Association on Sunday began indefinite strike until their three demands were met.
On Sunday, some pump owners sold fuel in the morning. They ran out of stocks by noon, leading to sales closures across the country including in some areas in the capital.
Petrol pump owners indefinite strike halted supply of automobile fuel in 14 districts in Khulna Division on Sunday.
Panic has been created across the country from Saturday as the pump owners announced indefinite strike across the country to realise their demands, an association leader said. "If the strike continues there is the risk of all the petrol pumps shutting down," he added.
Ramna Petrol Pump ran out of oil, leading to a halt in oil sales. While many pumps had oil in the morning, they ran out of the stocks by afternoon.
Bangladesh Tank-Lorry Workers Federation General Secretary (Dhaka) Rezaul Karim Reza said, "No oil was extracted on Sunday and no one even had a meeting with them."
"One group is negotiating. But their number is few. There is no point in keeping the pump open. Oil extraction is off. The strike will continue till the demands are met," Petrol Pump Owners Association General Secretary Mizanur Rahman Ratan said.
On August 31, the Ministry of Power Energy and Mineral Resources granted them commission agent status. However, since the other demands were not met, they began the strike, he said.
As the government met one demand of the association, a section of the association members called off the strike. However, another section said the authorities were only wasting time by not meeting their outstanding demands, so they began the indefinite strike.
On August 31, State Minister Nasrul Hamid assured the leaders of Bangladesh Tank-Lorry Owners Association and Bangladesh Tank-Lorry Workers Federation that the government will meet all their demands by September 30.
The demands of the association include setting the sales commission of fuel oil at 7.50 per cent, publishing gazette recognising petrol pump owners as commission agents, clearly announcing in gazette notification that value added tax (VAT) would not be applicable on the fare of tanker lorries and also issuing gazette notification fixing the economic life of tanker lorries which are already over 25 years old.
