Despite passing one month’s time, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has failed to implement its decision of a uniform sale price of domestic cylinders of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) at Rs910 across the country, as LPG traders have so far defied complying with it.
Following the orders of Lahore High Court, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources determined the price of LPG and conveyed it to OGRA, which then on 24th February, notified the price for each domestic cylinder at Rs910. As a result, the domestic category of LPG consumers was expected to find a relief of Rs30 per kilogramme in the price as OGRA reduced the price of each domestic cylinder by Rs300, fixing it at Rs 910 each domestic cylinder. However, LPG companies and traders have so far refused to reduce the sale price of the commodity and continue overcharging to domestic consumers of LPG. At present, each domestic cylinder is available at Rs1100- to Rs1200 in the open market.
“Although Ogra has fixed the price for LPG, its directive remains limited to paperwork as the fuel is still being retailed at much higher rates,” said official sources at petroleum ministry on the condition of anonymity.
The officials also said that Ogra has not taken any serious action against LPG traders’ i.e. LPG producers, distributors and marketing companies as they have been persistently fleecing the domestic consumers of LPG. They said that action and enforcement on part of Ogra are zero as overcharging of domestic consumers by around Rs 200 to Rs300 is continued openly. LPG companies have been violating Ogra’s order but Ogra has not taken any concrete action against them, except by writing letters and asking them to provide the record of sales price charged during February and March 2017.
Copies of Ogra’s letter to LPG producers available with Pakistan Today disclose that the regulator has directed the producers including Parco, JJVL etc to provide the record of sale price charged to consumers during the month of February 2017, as well as March 2017. Ogra has also sought the LPG companies to “submit authentic cost data directly attributed to LPG business segment on an urgent basis for consideration”.
Chairman LPG Distributors Association of Pakistan Irfan Khokhar said that the LPG crisis has started as prices have gone up by Rs 5 per kilogramme, following disruption in LPG imports due to intervention of the regulator. He warned that LPG prices will further shoot up as imports have halted for the last two months.
In a statement, Chairman LPG Distributors Association of Pakistan Irfan Khokhar said that LPG importers played a key role in bridging gas demand. However, he said that intervention of Ogra in determining prices had caused millions of rupees loss for the industry this year. He said that such practices by the regulator would cause disruption in LPG supply through imports.
He said that import of LPG had been reduced and during last two months, only one Letter of Credit (LC) had been opened due to the intervention of Ogra by writing a letter to determine the price, which not feasible for importers. He said that shortage of LPG product was leading to a hike in prices due to non-availability of the product. He appealed to the government to find out a permanent solution by formulating a policy to stabilise the prices to make imports feasible. He said that the price of LPG had increased by Rs 5 per kg and Rs 50 per domestic cylinder and Rs 200 of the commercial cylinder. He said that price would further increase in the coming days due to the non-availability of the product followed by disruption in LPG imports.
