Gas tariff hike to devastate CNG industry: APCNGA

Lahore: The All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA) on Tuesday said unilateral hike in gas prices by the government will devastate CNG industry struggling for its survival since years.

The hike has made business unfeasible as CNG operators would face double whammy of price hike and rate cut which is unbearable, said Captain (retd) Shuja Anwar, Central Chairman of APCNGA.

In a statement issued here today, he said that Ogra and Ministry of Petroleum avoided rationalisation of CNG price mechanism for three years while the recent announcement regarding prices is illegal.

Captain Shuja said that Ogra is empowered to announce CNG prices twice a year on January 01 and July 01, therefore the notification of new prices stands illegitimate.

He said that agents of oil sector are serving in the gas companies who have engineered the gas crisis which has taken economy as hostage.

SNGPL would frequently announce changed prices of RLNG for CNG sector in Punjab which is illegal and against the norms of transparency, he added.

The leader of the CNG sector said that prices of RLNG must be brought down which is imperative for the success of this revolutionary project.

Gas prices are linked to the prices of oil which continue to retreat since long therefore prices of gas must be reduced.

He said that ministry of petroleum has been proposed to cut RLNG prices repeatedly but to no avail.

Gas utilities and PSO continue to get illegal and unnecessary charges on import and transportation of LNG which has jacked up it price which must be minimised for the sake of survival of CNG sector and benefit of consumers, he added.

Captain Shuja said that erosion in the value of rupee has brought down its worth against dollar to Rs 104 hence prices of LNG and charges of gas companies and state-run oil retailer must be revisited.