The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) Thursday directed the provincial and district authorities across the country to take serious measures in checking the sale of substandard petrol and High Speed Diesel (HSD) being sold through illegal outlets. In a letter written to the chief secretaries of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KP), Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) and Azad Kashmir, the regulatory body directed the authorities to stop sale of petroleum products from illegal outlets/dhaba stations.
Petrol and HSD should only be sold through petrol pumps which are owned by licensed Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs). Any person involved in storage and sale of petrol/HSD other than petrol pumps of licenced OMCs is violating the section 3 of Petroleum Act 1934 and rule 90 of the Petroleum Rules, 1937.
In addition, the illegal sale of petrol/HSD not only leads to the supply of substandard products but also poses serious safety hazards to the public life and property. The offence is also not bailable in terms of Schedule II of the Criminal Procedure Code 1898 under the head "Offence against other laws". Besides this, the action can also be taken as per section 285 & 286 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
It is, therefore, requested to please issue necessary instructions to the relevant DCOs for taking strict action as per applicable law for removal of all such illegal outlets/dhaba stations to eradicate the illegal activity within their respective areas of jurisdiction, the letter added.
According to officials, Pakistanis annually consumes an estimated 10 percent of smuggled Iranian POL products including petrol, diesel and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), resulting in billion of rupees losses to national economy. According to officials privy to the development, Pakistan's per annum consumption of petrol remains at 4.8 million tons, diesel 7.2 million tons and LPG at 584,000 tons.
Officials said that people in Balochistan are using about 70 percent of the smuggled petrol, in Sindh costal belt especially bordering Balochistan up to 50 percent of the locals' needs of petrol and diesel are being met through Iranian smuggled POL products, while Iranian smuggled petroleum products are also available in tribal areas.
The country consumes an estimated 480,000 tons of smuggled Iranian petrol, 720,000 tons of diesel and around 100,000 tons of LPG per annum. Considering the price of crude oil at $378 per ton and estimated smuggled petrol and diesel quantity at around 1.2 million ton shows Pakistan was a market of $450 million to Iranian smuggled petrol and diesel. Iranian smuggled 100,000 ton LPG is worth $50 million per annum so the total impact of Iranian smuggled petroleum products on Pakistan's economy is estimated at $500 million per annum.
Talking to Business Recorder, Abdul Sami Khan, Chairman All Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association (PPDA) said he and his organisation has been making all-out efforts during past 50 years to make the government realise the damage caused to national economy by smuggled petroleum products.
He said the Iranian smuggled commodities are being sold on below the market price at hundreds of roadside retail shops across the coastal belt and Karachi. He said that the retailers are definitely mixing some additives or other oil products, including kerosene; otherwise, they cannot sell below the OMC rates. PPDA had frequently been asking police and local authorities to stop illegal sale of petrol on roadside outlets, but the authorities paid no heed to such requests, he said, urging the authorities to check open transportation of petrol in small pick-ups to shops in various areas. He said that after a long time on the directions of federal government now Sindh Rangers have started taking some steps to stop the sale of smuggled POL products.
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