The Pakistan Petroleum Dealers’ Association (PPDA) on Friday called off its plans to begin a strike on Saturday after the government approved a proposed revision in the dealers’ margins.

The nod for the revision was also confirmed by the finance ministry in a statement.

The Economic Coordination Committee had “deliberated on the matter regarding revision of dealers’ margins on motor spirit and high-speed diesel” during a meeting chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on a public holiday, the statement said, adding that a revision of the margin had been approved.

The statement did not specify the increase in the margin but a senior official told Dawn that the margin had been increased by Rs1.34.

The PPDA also said the government had increased the petroleum dealers’ margin by Rs1.34 per litre, bringing the total margin to around Rs10 per litre.

Following the increase, the dealers’ margin on both petrol and diesel will rise to Rs9.98 per litre from the existing Rs8.64 per litre.

As the PPDA Chairman Bakhsh announced during a press conference in Karachi that they were postponing the strike after the approval for the increase, he also said that petroleum product prices may once again be revised every 7 or 15 days, instead of being changed daily.

Last month, the government announced that it would start revising fuel prices on a daily basis, rather than the weekly system that had been in vogue in recent months. The government on Thursday rejected the dealers’ demand for monthly price fixing, adding that it will continue the daily price-fixing mechanism for petroleum products.

In its Friday statement, the PPDA said it “had postponed Saturday’s planned strike based on the government’s assurances”.

“However, [the PPDA chairman] warned that the association would continue its protest until all of its demands were accepted,” the statement added.

The association’s vice chairman, Tariq Hassan, further said that “because dealers had not received an increase in their margin for the past three years, approximately $50 million belonging to petroleum dealers remains outstanding with the government”.

On Wednesday, the PPDA issued a 72-hour ultimatum to the government over its failure to fulfil promises made by the petroleum minister to resolve their issues, especially the increase in margin to eight per cent on the retail sale price of petrol.

The association had warned that if the government failed to meet its demands within 72 hours, petrol pumps across the country would shut down indefinitely from 6am on Saturday (August 15) and would not reopen until those demands were met.

A delegation of petroleum dealers had also held brief talks with Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik in Islamabad on Wednesday.

In the meeting, the minister had assured the delegation that a Rs1.34 per litre increase in dealers’ margin, which had been pending for two years, had already been sent to the ECC and was awaiting approval from the Federal Cabinet.

Additional reporting by Mubarak Zeb Khan

ISLAMABAD: The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) on Wednesday launched a new chipless National Identity Card (NIC) built around a secure QR code, replacing the imported microchip used for the past 14 years.

The card has been manufactured domestically by the National Security Printing Company (NSPC) in Karachi in line with Nadra’s technical and security specifications, a statement issued by the authority on Friday said.

Instead of a chip, the card will carry a secure QR code that can be scanned and verified on a smartphone through Nadra’s Pak Identity (PakID) mobile application, it added.

The federal government approved the issuance of the new card on February 23 this year.

The code will contain the cardholder’s information and photograph.

According to Nadra, this will allow institutions to enter individuals’ names, addresses and other identity details more easily and consistently in their systems while reducing data entry errors.

The card will also display a family number and symbols to denote persons with disabilities, senior citizens, organ donors and citizens of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The cardholder’s name and address will be printed in both Urdu and English, Nadra added.

The visible and covert security features of the card have been “updated to meet current requirements and align with domestic manufacturing capabilities”, the statement said.

Nadra said the chip-based Smart NIC introduced about 14 years ago could not be fully utilised as chip readers and supporting infrastructure were never widely available. The QR-based card addresses this gap, being verifiable through an ordinary smartphone or software connected to a camera, it said.

Telecom operators, banks, hospitals, the Pakistan Railways, police and other authorised institutions will also be provided with software to read and verify the QR code, Nadra said.

The rollout will be phased, with the QR code-based card replacing the standard CNIC from Friday, it said, adding that from January 2027, it will be issued for all categories, including NICs for Overseas Pakistanis (Nicops) and Juvenile Cards. In the final phase, the Pakistan Origin Card (POC) will also transition to the chipless format, according to the statement.

Nadra clarified that all previously issued identity cards would remain valid until their expiry dates.

In February, the government notified amendments to the National Identity Card Rules, 2002 and the Pakistan Origin Card Rules, 2002 to modernise the country’s identity document framework. Part of these reforms included the statutory introduction of the QR code — a scannable barcode containing horizontal and vertical lines, dots, and patterns — as a defined security and verification feature.

The amendments further authorised the use of a QR code or “any other technological feature”, in lieu of the current microchip, enabling Nadra to adopt evolving verification technologies without repeated rule amendments.

Celebrations were held across Pakistan on Friday as the nation celebrated 79 years of independence.

State-run Radio Pakistan reported that the day dawned with a 31-gun salute in Islamabad and a 21-gun salute at the provincial headquarters. A change of guards ceremony was also held at the mausoleum of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in Karachi.

Here are some glimpses of Independence Day celebrations from Karachi and Lahore.

Header image: Green balloons and Pakistan’s flags are seen tied to a car driving along Mall Road in Lahore on Aug 14, 2026. — White Star