Overview
- The wheel-jam strike that kept buses, minibuses and coaches off Karachi roads since Thursday was ended on Sunday after talks between transport leaders and the Karachi commissioner.
- A delegation led by Karachi Transport Ittehad leaders met the commissioner with the secretary of transport, RTA secretary, the DIG Traffic, the director of excise and the deputy commissioner of Keamari in attendance.
- Authorities agreed to a two-month extension on the biometric verification requirement for vehicle ownership transfers and gave assurances they would address the mandatory Rs12,000 third-party insurance charge, with a follow-up review meeting scheduled in about 15 days.
- Transporters’ core complaints included steep e-challan fines generated by high-resolution traffic cameras and body-worn cameras and the time-consuming biometric transfer process, and earlier talks with the DIG Traffic had failed because reversing challans was outside his authority.
- The strike forced thousands of commuters to find costly alternatives and disrupted daily life, and the sector reaction to fuel-price relief — including a PGTA pledge to cut goods fares by 15 percent — shows how operating costs and provincial policy choices could shape future disputes.