As per the directions of Prime Minister, SNGPL is carrying out an exercise for verification of pressure factor applied to the consumers billing in all regions of the company. The company has uptil now detected a total of 11,266 consumers where the present pressure was found to be less than what has been billed to them. Therefore, a refund/adjustment of Rs 50.188 million pertaining to the period from July 2018 to February 2019 has been processed and it will appear in the forthcoming bills of these consumers.
In accordance with the directive of Prime Minister, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines has begun audit of Pressure Factor in gas bills during which delivery pressure of consumers was checked on the spot and accordingly additionally billed amount of those consumers will be adjusted in coming months. Pressure Factor has been in practice for last many years and the company never received any complaint regarding it.
The spokesperson further said that the increase in gas bills in mainly due to the recent hike in gas tariff announced by the Government of Pakistan. Under the new tariff, consumers who, under the forth slab, were to pay Rs 275 jumped into the next slab for using additional 0.1 Hm3 and hence ended up paying Rs 780. It is pertinent to mention here that due to the same tariff for both sixth and seventh slab, even the additional consumption did not have any impact on the gas bill.
According to SNGPL, consumers of domestic sector who consumed up to 4 Hm3 had to pay Rs 780 per MMBTU which is equivalent of the tariff for General Industries sector. Similarly those who consumed up to or more than 5 Hm3 paid Rs 1,460 per MMBTU which is equivalent of RLNG tariff.-PR