Even after three weeks, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources (MP&NR) and the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) are passing the buck to each other for taking action against CNG station owners for charging exorbitant rates compressed natural gas (CNG) from the consumers.
Ogra is of the view that under the Ordinance it is an Authority to only notify CNG and oil prices and the authority of action for overcharging lay with the Ministry. The Ministry is waiting for an action from Ogra to make sure that CNG station owners do not sell gas at exorbitant rates. Instead of taking the case seriously, the Ministry has simply transferred financial analyst, Hasan Ahmed, and Saeedullah Shah Director General Gas from their posts.
DG Gas Saeedullah Shah and financial analyst Hasan Ahmed were present during the press conference where Shah Mahmood Qureshi had announced wrong compressed natural gas (CNG) price. Qureshi had held a press conference at OGDC House on June 30, to announce revised CNG price. And, in response to a question he announced a difference of Rs 13 in CNG price for the consumers, whereas the actual difference was only of Rs 5 a kg.
Ogra notified the actual difference and fixed CNG price for the consumers at Rs 43.83 per kg. But CNG station owners turned a deaf ear to Ogra''s notified price and raised the price on their own to Rs 52.43 a kg.
For naive CNG station owners, Qureshi''s announcement provided much space. Even after more than three weeks, CNG is being sold at exorbitant rates and none of the so-called authorities, including Ogra, has taken any notice. The consumers took the minister''s announcement as a shock. They believe that the minister was responsible for ''fraudulent'' announcement, and nobody bothered to protect them from CNG station owners'' injustice and highhandedness.