The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) scrutinized the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) on Wednesday for diverting over Rs1.4 billion in public funds into short-term investments, violating legal requirements to deposit surplus receipts into the federal consolidated fund, according to a news report.
The issue was raised during a meeting of the PAC, chaired by Naveed Qamar, where the 2023-24 audit report of Ogra and the Petroleum Division was discussed. The committee strongly criticized Ogra’s financial practices, especially its failure to follow legal procedures laid out in the Ogra Ordinance 2002 and federal financial regulations.
According to the audit, Ogra failed to deposit Rs232 million in surplus funds from the fiscal year 2022-23 into the federal account. Instead, the funds were used for operational costs and short-term investments. The authority also spent public receipts on capital expenditures such as building construction and vehicle purchases, despite having separate budget allocations for these purposes. The audit labeled this as a clear violation of the treasury single account policy.
“This is a blatant breach of the treasury single account policy,” the Director General of Audit stated during the committee session.
In response, PAC Chairman Naveed Qamar ordered Ogra to return the full Rs1.4 billion once its short-term investments matured. He condemned the authority’s actions, calling them a pattern of financial overreach.
Additionally, the committee learned that during a government-imposed ban on vehicle procurement, Ogra purchased vehicles worth Rs22 million using surplus receipts, which was described as “irregular and unjustifiable” by committee member Syed Hussain Tariq.
