ACE unearths 495 illegal petrol pumps in Punjab

LAHORE: The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE)-Punjab had recently launched a crackdown on 'illegal petrol pumps' across the province that were responsible for causing losses worth billions of rupees to the exchequer.

According to the ACE Punjab director general, 495 illegal petrol pumps have been found across the province, of which 202 have been checked and 154 sealed.

He said the establishment found various violations of rules, including lack of safety equipment and location of pumps near schools and hospitals etc., during the inspection. "These pumps had no agreement with oil marketing companies (OMCs), with some selling diesel after mixing kerosene oil."

In addition to the above violations, he said, these pumps were also found selling smuggled oil, which remained outside the sales tax net and resulted in vast losses for the government.

Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed Special Assistant on Petroleum Nadeem Babar to expedite the process of reforms in the petroleum sector.