‘Fuel of the poor’ LPG soars in Pakistan, forcing rickshaw drivers to cut meals

LAHORE: For 13 years, Rashid Ali has driven a three-wheeled motorised rickshaw around Lahore.

His day starts at 6 am and sometimes does not end until midnight, but he was long able to make $6.50 a day — enough for his family’s bare essentials. Now, with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices surging he doesn’t even make half that.

Ali, 33, is among thousands of Pakistani drivers who run their vehicles on LPG, which is sold in cylinders and mainly used for cooking and heating.

Majeed Ghauri, chairman of the Awami Rickshaw Union, calls it “the fuel of the poor.”

He said about 70 per cent of its members’ 43,000 auto-rickshaws and nearly 8,000 Qingqis — motorcycle-based three-wheelers that carry several passengers on set routes — run on LPG.

LPG prices have surged since October 17, when two Iranian border crossings closed, halting imports, traders say, in the latest energy shock since the US-Iran war began in February.

With Ali now lucky to make $3 a day, his family has cut back on meals, eating only twice a day.

“Previously, when LPG was cheap, we could earn a decent income,” Ali said. “Now, it’s just not possible to get by on seven or eight hundred (rupees), is it?”

Before the border closures, Pakistan imported about 7,000 metric tons of LPG a day from Iran, the Pakistan LPG Association said.

Traders said the price of a 12-kg cylinder jumped 56 per cent within days of the closure to Rs7,000, or about Rs583 per kg in the open market.

The government of Balochistan cited security and smuggling for the decision; Iran’s foreign ministry said technical issues were to blame. Iran’s ambassador later said Iran had imposed no restrictions, including on LPG exports, and blamed changes in Pakistan’s import paperwork.

Walking away

Ali pays Rs600 a day to rent his rickshaw, filling up with gas four or five times a day, at 300 to 400 rupees a time.

As well as daily expenses, Ali also pays Rs11,000 a month for his home and has two young children to support.

Adding to his problems, passengers, he said, do not want to pay higher fares.

“For a trip that should cost Rs200 or Rs250, they might only offer Rs80, Rs100, or Rs150,” Ali said.

Passenger Mohammad Ramzan said when a driver asked Rs500 for a ride in the city, he offered half that. When the driver declined, he walked away, he said.

Inflation in Pakistan hit 9.6 per cent in October, and the State Bank of Pakistan last week raised interest rates to 12 per cent, citing energy and wheat prices. Petrol hit a record 458 rupees a litre on April 3 and remains about 40 per cent above its pre-war price.

Back home at midday, Ali said his two boys still needed their lunch. He would go out again until late at night, he said, hoping to make enough to bring something for the children to eat at night.