CNG dealers on Monday threatened to go in courts, if the government did not withdraw its decision to reduce the price gap between gas and petroleum products. This was stated by Abdul Sami Khan, Chairman CNG Dealers Association and Malik Khuda Baksh President CNG Station Owners Association of Pakistan at a joint press conference held at Karachi Press Club here on Monday.
They said the proposal to increase CNG prices would be tantamount to snatching livelihood of thousands of workers associated with the industry. Moreover, they said the government is reneging on its earlier agreement regarding 'pricing formula' with the CNG Associations which was still on record. They said the move to shut CNG stations twice a week across Sindh and thrice a week in Punjab was against the poverty-stricken consumers.
They said the CNG was substituting the petroleum import by $4.5 billion by consuming just 7 percent of gas and added that the government has not taken the CNG sector on board before taking this decision. They said the government has failed to prove its efficiency in exploring natural gas, besides materialising the proposed Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline Project, Thar Coal and other schemes to generate additional natural gas. They said the CNG dealers had no option but to go in court, if the price gap between gas and petroleum products was reduced.