Black marketing and profiteering rule the liquefied petroleum gas market as exploiters are selling 11.8 kg cylinder for Rs 855 at retail level against fixed ceiling retail price of Rs 650 per cylinder across the country.
In some areas the gas is either costlier or simply not available.
The sources said the gap between supply and demand goes on unchecked in LPG market, which suits the black marketers and profiteers best. There is no visible relief for the buyers at least during the next two months of cold weather.
The LPG demand is roughly 3200 tons per day. The supply is substantially less than the demand that provides an opportunity to unscrupulous market exploiters for making money at their will.
The NWFP and hilly parts in upper region of the country, where cold winds and snow are intensifying the chill each passing day, are the worst effected areas. The people in those areas depend heavily on LPG for heating their houses and protect themselves from chill weather.
The market exploiters are enjoying full liberty to fleece the poor buyers as none of the government departments is monitoring the prices in the market.
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has no system or power to check profiteering and protect the buyers. Its role is like a post office. It announces the price after getting directives from the Ministry of Petroleum on a monthly basis, and that's all.
The provincial governments, which are supposed to check LPG prices in the open market through inspectors, are totally oblivious to the situation. They hardly seem effective in maintaining the prices at some affordable level to make the poor buyers feel that there is any system to protect their interest.
The producers and marketing companies blame the distributors of overcharging and black marketing. They claim that the provincial governments were not taking action against the profiteers.
LPG prices increase irrationally during winter season. However, this time the nature of the shortage is different. The exploiters seem free to make money by using all negative tactics. How long the poor buyers will keep on being exploited, no one can predict.