The government has constituted a three-member committee, headed by Finance Minister Naveed Qamar, to conduct probe into the compressed natural gas (CNG) price fraud. Members of the committee are Secretary Finance and Secretary Petroleum and Natural Resources.
Sources said that the committee has summoned Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) officials today to explain the Authority's position on continuing sale of CNG at exorbitant rates. The committee will also question the concerned officials of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources (MP&NR), to establish what went wrong during the press conference wherein Petroleum and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had declared increase of Rs 13 in CNG rates which encompassed a difference of Rs 5.39 per kg from the actual price.
Qureshi had held a press conference to announce the new CNG rates on June 30, at OGDC House and, in response to a question, he announced incorrect gas price for vehicle owners. Qureshi was provided a table by Director General Gas, Saeedullah Shah, who was sitting with three other senior officials of the Ministry to assist him during the press conference. Wrong announcement embarrassed the minister and provided a chance to CNG station owners to fleece the vehicle owners.
Although Ogra had notified actual difference and fixed the CNG price at Rs 43.39 for vehicle owners, and MP&NR issued a clarification on July 1 for correction in the rates, yet the CNG station owners conveniently turned a blind eye to these official announcements. They ignored the government's clarification as well as Ogra's notified CNG rates, and kept on fleecing the consumers by charging them Rs 51.39 per kg. According to an estimate, CNG station owners extorted Rs 110 million from vehicle owners by selling gas at higher rate in the two days after the official announcement.
One can calculate the windfall profits made by CNG station owners as even after 11 days they are selling gas at higher than the official rates, without any official action. It was for the first time in the short history of CNG consumption as fuel that station owners defied the government authority so blatantly. As per law, CNG station owners are required to follow Ogra notified rates. By selling CNG at their own rates, this industry proved that it was not in a mood to follow the rules of the game.
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