ISLAMABAD: Every morning around 7 a.m., Sadaqat Aziz, 41, fires up his motorcycle in Islamabad’s New Mal Colony and joins the capital’s traffic, hoping to earn enough fares as a passenger driver to support his wife and three sons.
Having lost his position at a clothing firm a year ago and switched to the ride-hailing platform Bykea, Aziz notes that his shift, once concluded by 5 p.m., now regularly extends past midnight.
Fares have remained largely static, he says, but the cost of transporting passengers has surged.
On Tuesday, Pakistan’s petrol price stood at Rs393.64 ($1.40) per liter, a significant increase from roughly Rs258 ($0.92) in mid-February, before conflict between the United States and Iran destabilized global energy markets. Prices briefly touched Rs458.41 ($1.63) in April, prompting Islamabad to move to daily fuel pricing in July due to continued volatility.
The repercussions are especially severe in Pakistan, an energy importer reeling from renewed inflation. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, consumer prices rose 10.3 percent year-on-year in September, with motor fuel costs nearly 40 percent higher than twelve months prior.
For motorcycle-dependent gig workers like Aziz, whose income is dictated by fuel consumption between bookings, the shock is immediate.
“There is a war happening over there [in the Middle East], but petrol is getting more expensive in our country,” Aziz told Arab News while awaiting his next passenger on Islamabad’s Park Road.
“Customers are paying the same rates they did a year or six months ago. But here, the price rises every single day. We go to sleep at night, and by morning, petrol has gone up.”
Government figures indicate Pakistan has approximately 25 million registered motorcycles, making two-wheelers a cornerstone of affordable transport and a livelihood source for thousands on ride-hailing and delivery platforms.
SHRINKING MARGINS
Aziz finds the economics of each trip increasingly hard to balance.
He states Bykea retains 20 percent of the fare, and drivers must also cover the fuel used to reach customers before the paid leg of the journey begins.
“Take a Rs200 ($0.71) ride, for instance. The company takes its 20 percent share. We hand over Rs40 ($0.14), leaving us with Rs160 ($0.57). From that, around Rs100 ($0.36) goes toward petrol. Then there are motorcycle maintenance costs and our own living expenses,” he explained.
This leaves very little for personal income.
Aziz often waits hours for a worthwhile booking. He says longer shifts no longer equate to higher pay.
“Previously, we could earn Rs2,000 ($7.14) or Rs2,500 ($8.93) by 5 p.m. Now, even working until midnight, we make roughly the same,” he said.
While Aziz’s family owns their home, waiving rent, he must still cover electricity bills and school fees for his three sons, each costing at least Rs2,000 ($7.14) monthly.
“We earn daily and spend daily,” he said. “We buy milk for the children and other necessities, covering home expenses within that meagre daily earning.”
The pressure on Aziz extends beyond the fuel pump.
Pakistan’s September inflation rate dipped from 11.1 percent in August but remained in double digits, with essential foods recording sharp annual gains. Official data shows wheat flour was around 34 percent more expensive in rural areas than a year earlier, and fresh milk nearly 8 percent higher.
RELIEF, BUT NOT ENOUGH
As the energy crisis deepened, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government introduced a targeted fuel-relief program in September, primarily for motorcycle, rickshaw, and small-car users.
The initial Rs75 billion ($268 million) scheme offered a Rs100 ($0.36) per-liter subsidy on capped quantities. Following complaints regarding access and the difficulty poorer motorcyclists faced buying five liters at once, officials revised the mechanism.
Motorcycle and rickshaw users can now receive one Rs500 ($1.79) fuel token weekly, irrespective of single-transaction volume, granting up to Rs2,000 ($7.14) in monthly relief. Small cars up to 800cc remain eligible for a Rs1,000 ($3.57) token every 10 days. Eligibility was also expanded to motorcycles and three-wheelers up to 20 years old, and ownership requirements were waived for users of rented vehicles.
By Sept. 25, 5.8 million people had registered, with 4.7 million having accessed subsidized fuel.
Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik noted last Sunday that over nine million people were benefiting from the program, though the government has not released a detailed breakdown of motorcycle-based commercial workers like Aziz.
Officials state they have absorbed part of the rise in international petroleum costs rather than passing the full burden to consumers. Malik said the subsidy aims to shield vulnerable households from war-driven price hikes.
Yet for workers whose earning power relies on purchasing fuel daily, even the revised subsidy covers only a fraction of expenses.
At Tuesday’s rates, the maximum Rs2,000 monthly benefit for a motorcycle user purchased just over five liters of petrol—fuel a full-time ride-hailing driver can deplete rapidly.
Aziz has not yet registered for the scheme. He argues the subsidy will not alter the fundamental economics of a job where fuel costs have risen far faster than the fares he collects.
As traffic thins on Islamabad’s streets at night, the 41-year-old keeps searching for bookings that justify another trip. Sometimes the fares come. Often, they do not.
“Inflation is rising day by day, and we cannot meet our expenses. We are forced to extend our working hours,” he said.
“We do not know whether we should fill the motorcycle’s tank or feed ourselves?”
