The All-Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA) and Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) on Tuesday decided to hold another round of talks for fixing "an acceptable gas tariff". Official of the regulatory body said: "We held very constructive talks over the fixation of CNG tariff. Both sides decided to hold another meeting on December 13 for determining the gas sales tariff for the CNG industry."
Chairman of the APCNGA Ghayas Paracha later told reporters that the CNG body would not accept any unilateral decision. Rejecting the Petroleum Ministry''s summary regarding restricting the use of CNG in private vehicles and converting CNG stations into Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) outlets, he said that the CNG body would not accept any such move.
According to the ECC proposal, price of the CNG will be linked with the petrol price and CNG will not be provided to vehicles of 1000cc and above. CNG prices should be fixed at 80 percent of petrol price, according to the summary moved to the ECC. Depriving all vehicles of gas was an injustice, Paracha said.
Asserting that CNG stations were being overcharged for the gas, he said that even Ogra had acknowledged that CNG station owners were suffering losses. Ogra officials said that proposals suggested by APCNGA were being considered, adding that they would be presented before the Supreme Court on December 17.
During the talks, APCNGA was of the view that the Petroleum Ministry, Ogra, independent auditors and parliamentarians had accepted that the current retail price of CNG was "not sustainable". The CNG body believed that some vested interests were "misguiding the public regarding excessive profit margins of CNG operators". The CNG body expressed disappointment over repeated statements by top government functionaries regarding phasing out the CNG sector, which is using just 7 percent of the total gas production.
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