The business community, transporters and political activists of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region of Pakistan have expressed their displeasure over the increase in petroleum prices and asked the federal government to withdraw it.

People in Pakistan are already facing the pressure of high inflation.

The transporters warned that they would increase fare unilaterally or go for a wheel-jam strike if the government did not decrease the increased price.

“We have convened a meeting of all groups of transporters at the Haji Camp Bus Terminal on Monday (Sept 18) to decide about a wheel-jam strike or fare increase,” Public Transport Owners Association Khyber Pakhtunkhwa president Khan Zaman Afridi told Dawn on Saturday.

He said the increase of over Rs330 per litre in petroleum prices had increased the misery of both transporters and commuters and therefore, it was time to raise a “forceful voice against this injustice.”

Afridi said transporters had around 10 unions of different categories and they all were united against the government’s decision to hike oil prices.

The Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry also rejected the record increase in petroleum prices and called it detrimental to the country’s economy, businesses and industry.