ISLAMABAD: The ruling coalition is weighing a parliamentary vote on the petroleum levy in the upcoming session of National Assembly, seeking to give legislative cover to a measure that was initially imposed as non-voted federal expenditure in the 2026-27 budget.
The possibility of a vote was disclosed by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MNA Naveed Qamar at a meeting of National Assembly Standing Committee on Petroleum, chaired by Mustafa Mehmood.
Qamar questioned the government’s broad discretion over the petroleum levy and called for greater parliamentary oversight and constitutional clarity on the process for its approval.
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Classified as non-tax revenue, the levy is currently not subject to direct parliamentary voting, giving the executive control over fuel pricing without explicit legislative authorisation, he said.
The levy was originally conceived as a price-stabilisation buffer against volatility in global oil markets, but has since evolved into a regular source of primary revenue for the federal government, Qamar said.
“If prices are low, we (government) take the revenue; if prices go up, we take the revenue,” he remarked.
He pointed out that legislative approval applied strictly to demands for grants and financial expenditures rather than general policy documents.
Consequently, non-tax revenue measures such as the petroleum levy were never voted on directly and were only approved indirectly when Parliament passed the overall budget, he explained.
Qamar argued that bypassing a direct legislative vote on the levy was contributing to public discontent over rising fuel prices.
Parliament, he said, should assert formal control over the non-tax measure instead of relying on its indirect authorisation through broader budget documents and demands for grants.
Responding to Qamar, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervez Malik said the levy had been incorporated into the budget to help keep the primary surplus on track. The Finance Ministry could provide a further response on the matter, he added.
Earlier, panel member Asad Alam Niazi proposed a six-to-10-month review of petroleum levy collections to determine how quickly the financial burden on consumers could safely be transferred.
The federal government has set a target of Rs1.676 trillion in petroleum levy receipts for fiscal year 2026-27, based on the assumption of an average levy of Rs80 per litre on both petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD). The target represents an increase from the actual collection of Rs1.567 trillion in fiscal year 2025-26.
Recent technical talks between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Islamabad reportedly focused on the country’s fiscal targets, the petroleum levy and alternative revenue options under the USD7 billion Extended Fund Facility.
Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has warned that his party will escalate its protest campaign and resume its long march towards Islamabad if the government refuses to withdraw the high petroleum levy.
The party is demanding complete abolition of the levy to provide immediate relief to inflation-hit consumers.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026