September 15: The Federation of Nepal Petroleum Transport Entrepreneurs has withdrawn its protest programmes following an understanding with the government.

The federation called off its strikes after reaching an understanding with the concerned officials on Wednesday regarding price adjustment. The federation took a decision to this effect after a meeting with Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Dilendra Prasad Badu and Nepal Oil Corporation’s Executive Director Umesh Thani on Wednesday.

The government has assured the federation to address their demands within September 23. A joint statement issued by the President of the federation Khageshwar Bohora and NOC Director Birendra Goit states that the transport entrepreneurs have agreed to ease the supply of petroleum products following the understanding with the government.

The federation has been protesting since the last few months demanding a revision of fare.

The federation has been saying that they will not be able to operate tankers to transport petroleum products at the current rate. They have been demanding revision of transportation fare due to the rise in prices of petroleum products.

An expert group formed by the NOC some months ago had also suggested increasing the transportation fare. The study group has suggested increasing the fare by 3 to 16 percent depending on the route. However, the NOC leadership said that the suggestions made by the expert group was excessively high and handed over the report to Pulchowk Engineering College for further study.

The protest of transport entrepreneurs had recently affected flight schedules of domestic airline companies due to lack of fuel in airports outside Kathmandu.