The government and petroleum dealers have reached an agreement to increase the margin in four phases, with a 41 paise raise every fortnight, instead of a one-time increase, a private TV channel reported. After successful negotiations lasting seven hours, both parties have prepared a written agreement that will be signed by the Ministry of Petroleum, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), and the Dealers Association. Initially, the Ministry of Petroleum proposed a margin increase of Rs1.64 per liter on products. However, after several hours of refusal by the petroleum dealers, the increase will now be implemented gradually in four steps, with a 41 paisa raise every 15 days. Reports quoting petroleum dealers said that the full proposed increase will take two months to be realised. Currently, the dealers’ margin per liter is Rs 6, which will eventually rise to Rs 7.64 per liter in the span of two months. Initially, petroleum dealers were demanding an Rs 11 per liter margin on products. Earlier, the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) on Friday had announced that it was deferring for 48 hours a planned shutter-down strike of filling stations across the country. The association, which had earlier said that they would close all petrol pumps from July 22 in protest of a non-increase in their profit margins, made the announcement to postpone the strike following a meeting with State Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik. Earlier, the dealers had issued a warning, threatening to shut down their petroleum pumps indefinitely, citing the outgoing government’s failure to fulfil its promise of increasing their profit margins to 5%. During a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Thursday, Abdul Sami Khan, spokesperson for the association, had said that due to the prolonged strike, petrol pumps will only be operational for two days during the month of Muharram, specifically on the 9th and 10th. He said that the current margin per litre stands at Rs6, but the PPDA has been demanding an increase of Rs5 in order to bring it to Rs11 per litre. Abdul Sami alleged that the government was turning a blind eye to the rampant smuggling of Iranian petrol and diesel. According to the PPDA spokesperson, the unauthorised sale of Iranian petrol and diesel have caused a significant 30% decline in the revenues of authorised petroleum dealers.