Pakistan rickshaw drivers squeezed as LPG prices jump 56% after border closure

Liquefied petroleum gas has become a luxury in Pakistan. Prices for the fuel — sold in cylinders and mostly used for cooking and heating — shot up after two Iranian border crossings shut on Oct 17, choking off imports, traders say. For the thousands of rickshaw and Qingqi drivers who run on LPG, the spike landed straight in their fuel tanks.

Rashid Ali, 33, has spent 13 years driving a three-wheeled rickshaw around Lahore, starting at 6am and sometimes finishing at midnight. He used to clear about US$6.50 a day, enough for his family's basics. Now he counts himself lucky to make US$3, and his household has dropped to two meals a day. He pays 600 rupees daily to rent his rickshaw and refuels four or five times a day at 300 to 400 rupees a pop, plus 11,000 rupees a month for his home and two young children to feed.

Majeed Ghauri of the Awami Rickshaw Union calls LPG 'the fuel of the poor'. Roughly 70% of the union's 43,000 auto-rickshaws and nearly 8,000 Qingqis — motorcycle-based three-wheelers that run fixed routes — depend on it. Before the crossings closed, Pakistan was pulling in about 7,000 metric tons of LPG a day from Iran, according to the Pakistan LPG Association.

The pain showed up fast at the pump. Traders say a 12kg cylinder climbed 56% within days of the shutdown to 7,000 Pakistani rupees, about 583 rupees per kilogram in the open market. Balochistan, the southern province bordering Iran, blamed security and smuggling for the closure; Iran's foreign ministry pointed to technical issues, while its ambassador later said Tehran had imposed no restrictions on LPG exports and instead faulted changes in Pakistan's import paperwork.

There's little relief on the passenger side. Ali says riders refuse to pay more — offering 80, 100 or 150 rupees for trips that should cost 200 to 250. Passenger Mohammad Ramzan walked away after a driver quoted 500 rupees for a city ride and he countered with half. With inflation at 9.6% in October, the central bank raised its key interest rate, now at 12%, citing energy and wheat prices. Petrol hit a record 458 rupees a litre on April 3 and still sits about 40% above its pre-war level.

Back home at midday, Ali said his two boys still needed lunch. He planned to head out again until late, hoping to bring something home for them to eat at night.