The capital administration has reinstated strict restrictions on business operating hours as part of the national energy conservation drive amid the global power crisis caused by the Iran-United States (US) conflict.
According to a late-night notification issued by authorities in Islamabad, the revised timings take effect on Monday (June 1) and directs the closure of all shops, markets and shopping malls by 8 pm throughout the week.
The order extends to food establishments and public event venues of the federal capital with a slightly later deadline, allowing restaurants, tandoors, bakeries, grocery stores and meat, fruit as well as vegetable vendors to operate till 10 pm.
Marriage halls, marquees and other commercial places hosting festive events are also bound to the 10 pm cutoff, a restriction that the notification explicitly states applies to private premises as well.
Certain essential sectors remain exempt from these restrictions. Pharmacies, medical stores, petrol pumps and information technology (IT) firms are permitted to operate outside the mandated hours to ensure uninterrupted public utility and digital services.
The reimposition of these early closures links back to a broader austerity framework initially announced by the federal government in March.
The policy shift followed disruptions in global supply chains and a surge in crude oil prices to a two-year high, triggered by the conflicts in the Middle East.
In response to the ensuing fuel crisis, the federal and all provincial administrations deployed multiple conservation strategies, which included enforcing an additional weekly holiday, reducing free petrol allocations for government ministers, capping the number of protocol vehicles on roads and introducing proposals for subsidised fuel targeted at students.
While the early closures order was temporarily suspended ahead of Eid Ul Azha, Monday’s notification stated that the new rules will remain in force until further orders.
