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CNG woes: Can't you see how miserable you are making us?

CNG woes: Can't you see how miserable you are making us?

Seeing the price of CNG, I happily took a picture from my phone at the petrol pump.It seemed like a dream come true!

Sidrah Moiz December 05, 2012

When I heard that CNG prices would be reduced, I was ecstatic. I, along with people all over Pakistan, celebrated this development.

This reduction was intended to bring respite to the people in an environment of growing expenses and high inflation; it is no secret that here in Pakistan, even buying bare necessities have become difficult for the common man.

Following this price cut, I enthusiastically took a picture from my phone of the new prices stated on the CNG pumps. It all seemed like a dream come true.

Now, it is no less than a nightmare, not just to me, but to all others who once rejoiced over the price cut.

I was happy with paying Rs30.38 extra just to be able to peacefully get my car’s cylinder filled five days a week, while I would have to pay alternatively for petrol on weekends, which would not hurt my pocket as much as it does now.

Life was never this hard.

Of late, however, there is an influx of cars on the road — you know why? Because the cars queued to get CNG occupy the roads, leaving no space for the traffic to pass through. Cylinder blasts are more frequent now — the reason being that drivers have to convert their vehicles from CNG to LPG when the former runs out.

The long lines and traffic jams have become a menace for us citizens. It’s not just a waste of money for us anymore; it has all sadly become a concoction of money, time and life loss. Precious time is wasted waiting and since there is no system to monitor the growing queue of cars, which wind around corners of pumps, intercepting intersections, those waiting in their cars bear the brunt of incessant honking from passing cars, as if the whole thing is somehow our fault — like we chose to wait in our cars purely out of boredom.

I, as an ordinary citizen of Pakistan, who is restricted in the bounds of a monthly budget, would like to request that the CNG association and owners decide the price.

Let them charge us some extra money — for good things in life, including peace of mind, don't come for free!

Read more by Sidrah here or follow her on Twitter @seedwah

WRITTEN BY:
Sidrah Moiz

The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

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COMMENTS (44)

Baba Ji | 11 years ago | Reply CNG woes: Can’t you see how miserable you are making us? correction Sidrah Moiz Khan bittiya CNG woes: Can’t you see how miserable we have made ourselves of us? reap the fruits of democracy ... enjoy your power of vote !!!!

Shahzad | 12 years ago | Reply @Ayesha Khan First of all I dont know where you are getting your facts but they are not entirely true. 1) The 15% UFG for gas ofcourse includes CNG as well - They ain't saints but a simple caclulation and information about gas can lead you to decide who is stealing the most. The sector which consumes 8% of the total gas production - how much can it steal ? How does one steal gas ? Who was caught gas stealing in recent past ? 2) Yes I am sure there are many politicians who own CNG stations but PML - N - really ? The cartel of fertilizer companies is known to all - I need not say more but FAUJI FERTILIZER leads it. 3) Gas is indeed a raw material for fertilizer companies and they pay Rs 60 per MMBTU as per OGRA website for usage as feedstock. The cheapest rate amongst all sectors. Why cant they be switched to some other fuel ? Now tell me who decides the profit margins of textile companies which you said will not be able to compete internationally if they switch to furnace oil ? I am sure you know the number of rebates available to them by the government and the kind of frauds they have involved in on the pretext of exports. The balance of payment crisis will be far bigger if your turn quater million cars to run on petrol again which is also imported. 4) The price for gas used as feed stock for fertilizers is Rs 60 per mmbtu, for two units Engro and another and for remaining companies its Rs 116 per mmbte. Rs 460 if they use it for power generation etc. This is from Ogra's notification - available on their website. The price of fertilizer is determined by market forces and in line with international prices which is exactly the point - when they get the cheapest gas possible even cheaper than domestic / commercia/ power / CNG users then why are they selling at international prices for domestic customers? 5) I have no idea about this but sense might have prevailed. And honestly if i can get gas at Rs 60 per MMBTU and make 400% profit then i will also pay for the pipeline. 6) The level of knowledge and information you have shared I am sure you understand how our taxation system works. What is our total tax base and how much do they pay ? The industries pay tax on their net income after accounting for every possible expense , tax planning and bribe . The percentage and amount you can get easily. But we largely rely on indirect taxes on necessities like fuel, electricity etc which are paid at source. Similarly CNG has to pay tax with their monthly bills on revenues rather than profits. You can just do the maths. Import bill is the biggest question and it has the same affects for every one. CNG is a fuel for middle class . 7) I don't know what you are talking about. 8) I absolutely agree that SC has no business in deciding price of any thing. Its solely about the demand and supply equation. The proposal for parity should be deliberated as well ? Like Mr. Zardari the government of Pakistan will further loose its credibility with such rapid change of policies making people like me spend Rs 30K on a CNG kit and then change the plan all again. 9) Who is to question subsidies ? Why do you want to subsidize Fertlizers ( 0.2%) Why do you want to subsidize the farmers - feudals of pakistan ( 1%). Why do you want to subsidize Textile ? Why power producers ? 10) The fact is we don't have a energy policy or if we had it - some medical doctor who only knows how to rub arms and a.... found out ways to make money and changed it all. You know our biggest problem is we dont respect law ? We can change the constitution for the benefit of the few. We can change policies just like that - Is this the Pakistan you want ? 11) Think before passing judgements like what is necessary and what is not - let's evaluate who is doing what - who is benefiting and who is loosing ? what makes people happy or sad ? and then decide.

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qasim | 12 years ago | Reply Idiot nation burning gas in Generators both in domestic and heavy industrial !!! first stop burning it in generators ...in Pakistan minimum monthly wage is 6000-8000 how can a person afford to have petrol 30 days a month without proportionate increase in salary ? people are using Mehran and suzukis but government is trying to deprive them with cheap fuel just by saying that it is being used in Paraods and CIVICS .how many people do have Parado and civics? only 2-5% and poor class represents about 95% ....dont have words to comment. Thanks GOD iam not in Pakistan and had shifted my business to U.S. evne in U.s government is trying to switch to CNG from LPG OR LNG but Pak government is switching back to petrol and diesel instead of cng .hatts off to the people of pakistan . Government does not have vision in pakistan and thats why people are still facing the problem of Loadshedding and crying of inflation.... Just google which fuel the world is switching to ,you would be find in most of the searches CNG rather than petrol of diesel. Goverment rather than phasing it out and making a huge blunder ,shall try to run and maintain it so that Pakistan import bill could not rise further higher just because Pakistan need petrol to run its vehicles thats why import bill has increased ..

Haider | 12 years ago | Reply Idiot nation consuming gas for cars at the cost of gas for stoves...

Haider | 12 years ago | Reply CMG should be BANNED for private vehicles for now When and if gas shortage finishes, people can be allowed to use CNG again...

jahandad | 12 years ago | Reply when your fuel cost rises above the purchasing power of average man ,then it leads to inflation which in turns leads to poverty and corruption , and thus the country is dragged backward into darkness, but the government also looses both ways , by loosing vote bank plus credibility ,and its future elections as well,,,,,,THE SITUATION TODAY IS WORST THAN MANY AFRICAN COUNTRIES ,,WE ARE IN CRISES AS A NATION AND WE NEED A SINCERE VISIONARY LEADERSHIP , WITH CLEAR OBJECTIVES,,,,,,,

Saeed | 12 years ago | Reply The solution is better public transportation. The days of filling your car up with cheap CNG are over. The government should work on improving the public transportation in the bigger cities that have the population density to make it feasible. If people keep on buying cars there will be nothing but roads, flyovers and underpasses in our city. We need shared transportion, aka buses. The number of buses on the roads right now just aren't enough. More and better buses or keep on crying.

SK | 12 years ago | Reply Start using petrol instead of CNG.

k | 12 years ago | Reply @ cng pakistan main hoti kahan hai haftae main 4 din to station bannd hotaee hain ...itni saiii behass sirf aur sirf remainginn3 dinoon kae liae in 3 dinoon main cng sector kia qayamat barpa kar laeta hai?dont know hum kabbh theek hoon gae

k | 12 years ago | Reply i would like to update you many points but due to shortage of time i would post my comment in upcoming week or two.hope you would not mind it

Ayesha Khan | 12 years ago | Reply @k You talk of nuclear energy like its available in the sunday bazaar. Firstly, India could afford to buy nuclear technology, we cannot. Secondly, most of India's power generation comes from coal, not from nuclear sources. Coal is a much better alternative to gas, but unfortunately the coal we have at Thar is so low in sulphur content that its hardly suitable for power generation. Kalabagh dam is out of question. KP and Sind actually have solid arguments against Kalabagh so its out of the question. If yo must build Kalabagh, do so at the risk of a civil war. Isliye bhai mairay, we must get rid of the unnecessary consumption first. And the most unnecessary consumption is from the CNG sector.

Ayesha Khan | 12 years ago | Reply @k Nearly all your 'facts and figures' are wrong. 1) Your 85% after UFG losses includes the CNG sector as well. And your point is? 2) Many textile companies are indeed owned by political families but so are CNG stations (PML-N in particular). None of the fertilizer companies are owned by politicians. Again, whats your point? 3) Gas is a raw material for manufacturing fertilizer, it is not just used to run the plants. What exactly do you mean? As for textiles, if these companies convert to furnace oil, their cost of production will sky rocket and they will no longer be competitive internationally, which would not only bring our exports down massively but also lead to higher oil imports, leading to a balance of payments crisis. 4) The price for gas used as fuel for fertilizers is Rs 460 per mmbtu, not 100. It has increased in line with the rest of the industry. The price of fertilizer is determined by market forces and in line with international prices. 5) The approval for a dedicated pipeline for fertilizer plants has been scrapped. Even if it would have gone through, it would have been financed by the fertilizer companies themselves, not by the government. Secondly, the gas used would have been through new discoveries which are currently not in use by any sector.I reiterate again: that plan has been scrapped. 6) If CNG sector has paid xx amount of tax, what about the tax lost from other industries because of production cuts? What about the additional import bill from more expensive imported fertilizer? Also, CNG does not contribute to the GDP directly or indirectly as much as other industries such as textiles, fertilizers and power sectors do. 7) The weekly price determination is irrelevant to this discussion. 8) The Supreme Court has no business deciding the price of anything. The proposal to set CNG price at a parity to petrol is absolutely correct. There is nothing wrong with it. Why do you want to subsidize the upper middle class, which is hardly 10% of the total population at the expense of the entire economy?

ab | 12 years ago | Reply well i think that the policies and decisions are made by the government , not by the people and then enforced. I have a mercedez benz and i am still using cng is my own decision and it is completely legal to do that. no one other then the law can dictate it to me what i should be doing. the real problem is the complete inability of the government to do any thing in the power sector in the last 5 years. i really don't how the parties at least in power now will end up getting even one vote in Sindh at least. i think that the solution of the problem is to increase the buses on the road so that everyone can go seat by seat. then there will be less pressure on the roads . i am sure the great no of car's atleast 1000c and below will go off the road decreasing the cng comsumption a great deal

k | 12 years ago | Reply Power sector should use Nucluar energy not the gas (take India example who is in a position to export electricity and offering Pakistan to have some from INDIA ) for your kind information NEPRA has presented its report three days earlier that load shedding cannot be stopped event till 2020 even Gas is supplied to it because power generation facility is not efficient and cannot be run to its full 100% capacity as government is not investing amount on purchasing effective power generation equipments. Why government is not pursuing Kala Bagh dam project so that it can build elecriticy on Hydral means ? why to depend on generating electricity on Gas ? our neighbouring counry has many dams and because of it he is self sufficient in power sector as well.but we are debating in allocation of gas either to power or cng . POLICY POLCIY POLICY is all that is lacking

Aly Sakhi | 12 years ago | Reply Let the market forces to determine price.. already high demand due to shortage of supply and in this situation if prices are being reduced the demand will be multiplied..it will result in long queues on CNG filling stations and waiting for long hours by domestic users ... Government should prioritize the sectors like domestic, industrial, and for public transports not for personal vehicles ... it is simple economics ..optimum utilization of limited resources..

crazy martian | 12 years ago | Reply Wow. CNG and here i am paying even less for patrol. Let me put it this way, it should be used for POWER generation. Any sane country would have utilized it for power generation considering we are so dependent, wait for it, wait for it, yes PATROL but no we will put it in a cylinder and use it as a transport of our cars. Do you know what a AYASH country is like. Everyone has to drive his or her own cars. Well good now you have to pay for it and anyone blaming this present government is in itself is being silly. Our problem were not created by this government. They were inherited by them. So grow up. Get on a bus and have fun while your stupid judiciary creates further crisis for your sacred motherland. "i am a martian and i know it"

k | 12 years ago | Reply @Ayesha Moiz is 100% right go and get some fact and figures. the 8% according to you is huge amount then what else you want to allocate the percentage to the sector that moves the vehicles of whole nation ? According to SNGPL and SSGL figures the UFG ( UNACCOUNTED FOR GAS ) is almost about 12-15% and in this 12-15%, 85% is in Industry ,fertilizer and textile sector because these sectors are owned by Ministers not by common man . Fertilizer and textile sector have shut their plants because they want to use Cheap gas rather than operating on furnace oil ,diesel or other mean of fuel ( they have option to run their machineries on other fuels but CNG station cannot run on petrol ,diesel or other because Gas is the only raw material for them ) These sectors are getting about 100rs per MMBUT and paying sales tax @ 16 % . 5 years back these sectors were still getting gas at about 80-90rs per MMBTU and the price of Urea per bag was 500rs and now five years later in 2012 they are getting gas at about 100 -110rs per mmbtu and the Price per bag of Ureas has increased to about 1800 does that alarming anyone ? we all know that who own Power plants in the country , who owns Fatima,Engro etc fertilizer plants Who own Sugar mills . if there was shortage of gas then why ECC has given approval for dedicated gas pipelines for fertilzer sector ? how they goona manage it offcourse by cutting gas to other sectors like Domestic and CNG and thats why in karachi there is alwasy gas load managemnet plan and shortage of gas fro about 4 out of 7 days. according recent data revelaed by FBR CNG sector has payed Billion of Rs to nation exchequer and if stop using this sector which would mean depriving national exchequre from these billion of rs and national exchequer would have to spend billion of extra rupess on importing Crude oil from foreign . This governmetn lack planning and vision and does some action which have no planning . Take the ECC decison to review the prices of petroleum on weekly basis ? what happend to that decison .wheteher itt was good or bad? ECC and or government linked the price of CNG with Peetrol .was that good or bad.offcourse it was wrong decison because of which COURT delink it

Ayesha Khan | 12 years ago | Reply @Moiz 1) The percentage of gas used by the CNG sector has grown from 1% to 8% in 2 years. That's an alarming growth. And 8% is no small number, it represents almost 200mmcfd. That much gas is enough to sustain half of Karachi's domestic demand , two big fertilizer plants, 4 mid sized power plants or 5 spinning mills. 2) If there is no gas shortage, why are four out of seven fertilizer plants in the country shut? Why is the textile industry getting gas for only four days a week? Why is the domestic sector getting low pressure in kitchens and gas heaters? Come on! 3) The gas fields that have been envisaged cannot come online because they require a lot of investment. Foreign capital is required for exploring the new fields and an auction for 40 new fields is being held in January for the purpose. 4) CNG owners are not incurring any losses. They are minting money. The sales tax does not go from their pockets. Apart from their guaranteed fixed return, they are charging Rs 15-20 per kg extra as 'ghunda tax' from consumers. The GIDC doesn't go from their pockets either. All industries pay GIDC by passing it on in prices. This CNG madness has to stop. It has severely adverse impacts on the country's economic growth. If the growth in CNG consumption is allowed to continue, this country will face a severe food crisis. Stop subsidizing the middle class. Start subsidizing the working class. Its that simple.

Zalam Singh | 12 years ago | Reply @Awais then those white collar middle class should go on a bicycle like many other middle class do. Because of your fake "dignity", many respectable Pakistani people don't have gas at their home to cook.

JD | 12 years ago | Reply Introducing CNG was a blunder in my opinion. We've robbed ourselves of even a steady supply of gas to our homes, let alone cars. CNG means affordability for the middleclass, but when you see a 1000000 Rs worth Prado waiting in line for CNG, you'd curse this system. It should be closed down for good.

Zaid Khan | 12 years ago | Reply @Mustafa: Nice comments. I am not sure who took the decision of allowing gas usage as source of energy and keeping other sectors like fertilizer, power & fertilizers crippling as you have already mention. These mushroom CNG has really destroyed many sectors and is also main culprit of inflation. I remember when I last went to Pakistan. I asked one of my fruit & veg shop keeper who is round the corner of my street, what is the reason of this food inflation, and he not very well educated provided with authentic answer that it's due to transportation charges. Government should focus on improving public transportation or mass transit in mega cities like Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi/Islamabad and cities where there are more fuel consumption. I have seen that cars have become unnecessary source of transportation and obviously it puts stress on our unplanned and narrow road network. Gas has more better utilisation in energy, textile and fertilizer sector. As gas almost doubles the production of plants and also cheap as compared to oil power station. Similarly, textile sectors exports made 56% of our last year 25Bn exports which is severely hurt due to energy crisis. Likewise, fertilizer sector is importing a lot as local plants can't manufacture this due to energy shortage. This ultimately creates imbalance on our balance sheet which is always on import side. We import more as compared to what we export. We are struck between deep sea and devil. I understand this can't be fixed in a month or year but at least we need to have our direction right ASAP. If you are expecting this from this government or any of tested parties, you are still living in fool paradise. Just come out of it and vote for one who is best for Pakistan in upcoming next general elections.

Ehlaam | 12 years ago | Reply Helloo Sidrah, : Great write-up you`ve got here. Had been waiting for your article(s) since July 012... Keep-up-the-good-work! :)

Moiz | 12 years ago | Reply This is what exactly happen when our public is manipulated by media or government. There are several points that I would like to clear 1) For those who think CNG is compromising our country's basic needs, ie. Household, industry and power sector. they are wrong. According to SSGC annual report, CNG is consuming '8%" of the total natural gas reserves. 2) There is no shortage of natural gas. It is faux. (cannot quote the person name, due to his job stake, SSGC ) 3) Let's suppose there is a shortage of supply. Major gas fields discoveries has been envisaged. "http://dawn.com/2012/09/19/major-gas-field-discovered-in-pakistan/" Khirtar Fold Belt region . This is one of the example, there are many more. Knowing this potential of our soil. what measures did the government took ? Put a ban on CNG station license? while still issuing them to their ministers. 4) CNG owners went on strike because they are occurring a huge loss. Why they kept open their pumps then? A) Contempt of court, B) Bill payments were due, so they sold it while incurring loss so that they can save money for their bill. Why they protested afterwards Rs 12- rs 15/kg loss aint a joke. Our media and OGRA portrayed as 30 rs price deduction was made my CJ. Wrong. If anyone heard 19th November hearing. The first thing that CJ said was, i didnt say anything, I am no one to set the price. Its the regulator. OGRA and CNG association were asked to sit and discuss the price, but OGRA denied and kept saying it will be done by CJ. After 19Th November this point was cleared. 5)CNG station owners never regulated the price. Its the regulatory body. Every time price increased, Gas bill increased, while price of the natural gas stayed same ie 28 rs. while new forms of taxes were added. CNG sector is paying 25% GST. as compared to 16% of other sectors. Fine even it was 25% , than why another tax added name GID CESS into bills, which is around 9 Rs /KG. Where does this money go? no idea.

Hamdan Siddiqui | 12 years ago | Reply I read your piece next i must add that now that the Supreme court's decision has been backed by Mr Asim Hussain who by himself has admitted that the court has done that thing which the the government could not.I have a feeling that the government's inaction against the CNG Association demonstrates its insincerity to obey and carry into effect the decision. It is only a matter of time before the masses of people will rise at one to deal a blow to the group of elite political class that has nothing to do with Pakistan but are serving their own Conveniences.

                                                               Hamdan Siddiqui

Abdul Haseeb | 12 years ago | Reply I agree with you Sidrah, and we must surely find a solution to the problem by letting the CNG suppliers decide the fair price so that it can be available to everybody easily on a fair rate. This nuisance of waiting in long lines and wasting away precious hours has to be stopped.

Awais | 12 years ago | Reply and not every car owner can afford petrol. I accept that most of the people in the country are not car owners and are poor but there is a thing called "white collar middle class" who owns a Mehran and go to their work place with some level of dignity. This class can not afford petrol 30 days a month. For better economy you must sustain this class. You can not have only two classes i.e. rich or poor. Middle class is most important part of a booming economy and CNG problem directly effects middle class.

Awais | 12 years ago | Reply If CNG is limited resource so is petrol. People are advocating petrol usage as if it rains. People who are advocating the use of petrol and downgrading transportation disgracefully in comparison of Industries must know that cheap transport is now vital part of the economy in today's world. Robots donot work in industries nor every factory provides shelter to its employees in its premises. You need to transport people to their work places. The other thing that bothers me is that people harp to use "Made in Pakistan" products so that Pakistan needs not to spend money on imports but when it comes to petrol, they dont see it as an imported item.

What's in a name ? | 12 years ago | Reply Hitting two targets with one arrow. Such maliciously clever judiciary. Gaining the sympathy of the masses and trying to spread anarchy with a simple decision. If the judiciary was so sincere in helping us, it could have given a ruling which should have been complete i.e. price reduction along with a ban on those stations which try to defy the order by lame excuses.

T | 12 years ago | Reply author when you wrote LNG in the article you meant LPG. read up on the difference itil do you some good. also start driving on petrol!

k | 12 years ago | Reply what a shame and pitty .we are only seeing one side of coin and pursuing our self interest .not knowing what the reality is .allow me to show u some picture . I would admit I am no expert of Gas / Energy industry like others who have commented . However, reading recent news reports I wonder: – Do we know how much gas is being used in which sector ? Apparently CNG is less than 5% or may be 7% of total gas production of Pakistan ? – Should we be dependant on outside world to run our cars / public trasport ? We don’t have any oil of our own we import and refine it into petrol ? – With the inverse balance of payments and fiscal/trade deficit – is it economical/logical to increase our imports for a sector like transportation with standard / increasing demand ? – Do we know since recent discovery of shale gas in US they are promoting CNG to save on oil import costs and to diversify the energy mix ? Similarly CNG is being promoted in all developed country (Europe) and developing countries ( Bangladesh, India etc) who dont have oil reserves. – Do you know which industries use gas and what is the purpose of their use ? Apparently for fertilizer it is the basic raw material – with profit margins of more than 200%. For textile its mainly used in power production, for Independant Power Producers for power who were supposed to run on oil but since we did not have FX they were converted on gas but their tariffs are based on Oil prices, For cement factories to run their furnace . – If we just think about who benefits / looses from the expansion of CNG along with the state: we know who runs fertilizer factories( fatima / fauji / engro) , textile industry again dominated by our rich industrialists who have been getting richer year by year ( every one knows the major players) , IPPs (who owns them we dont know but who brought them and how we know it was PPP with all the kickbacks and ensuing NAB investigations) , Cement players again we know how many of them . So discontinuing CNG we promote all these industries – who do they benefit ? Fertilizer price is the same as to import fertilizer so no benefit to end user , Textile – we dont know how many are servicing domestic demand but predominantly exports , IPPs – not working because of gas or oil shortage but circular debt , Cement again how many people are building their houses ? – CNG Owners apparently influential people with political connections – we have yet to see a politician jump in like they did in sugar prices. – CNG users common man who runs a small car or even luxurious car ( in pakistan terms a Honda Civic or Toyotta Corolla) , public transport, ambulances, school vans etc. Misconceptions: -CNG is dangerous – if it were dangerous Toyota and Suzuki will not be selling factory fitted CNG cars. US would not be promoting CNG the way it is being promoted right now with substantial rebates. – Excessive profits : could be true like with every other business in Pakistan for this reason we have OGRA and CCP to ensure consumer rights are not violated. Why are we letting vested interests to make us dependant on outside world to live our daily lives. The whole world is working on food and energy security promoting indigenous resources given the polarisation and ongoing recession. Everyone is looking after their own interest first rather than their poor neighbors. Can we have experts decide an energy policy which keeps our strategic goals as a nation in mind and not go by wishes of a Petroleum Minister or OGRA chairman ? When can we have long term policies on such critical issues? Does anyone care ?

Cry Me a River | 12 years ago | Reply What ??? Queues for CNG !!! Do yourself a favour.....Get a replacement water engine manufactured by A(gha)W(aqar) Motor Corporation or as the Japanese call it "AW Jidosha Kabushiki-gaisha". Tagline : It's Watery...It's cheap !!!

Zalam Singh | 12 years ago | Reply Drive on petrol. You rich people can spend 1 million on a car but not a few rupees extra on Petrol. Shame

Atif Yousufzai | 12 years ago | Reply Two conclusions. 1st. You have a car and that is on CNG 2nd. People should stop using CNG in cars knowing the reservoirs are not enough in country till LPG is available for cars hence please think as if there is no CNG and you have to drive on with you using petrol.

Umer Raza | 12 years ago | Reply Usage of CNG is both the waste of money, precious resource and of course time. Those who spend hours in the queue to get a cheaper mobility mechanism do not understand the intangible cost they are incurring by just waiting for hours. On top of it they burn a precious natural resource that could be used for their industries for more production. As good citizen all those who use cars for private use must not use CNG but use petrol and use it wisely. As a first step, i have not used CNG in my car for more 45 days now, i hope not to do so in future.

Faraz Talat | 12 years ago | Reply The public's perception of gas prices is that Zardari has a magic lever, which he pulls and pushes to lower or raise gas prices. He's just too evil to lower them. It's important to understand the little thing called "supply", which when reduced, must cause the country to go into conservation mode. This is achieved by increasing prices. This concept is lost on our holy saviors, who forced a reduction in the CNG prices at the expense of profits made by the distributors. Not to mention that we're burning out our already limited supply of CNG at a higher rate, so have fun...until the price naturally spikes to a level where it will make your eyebrows disappear into your hairline.

Nadir | 12 years ago | Reply Always great to read tales of woe and anguish from the affluent car owning class, acting as if they are the nations downtrodden.

Usman | 12 years ago | Reply What an ignorant article! The first priority of a government is to provide fuel to industry at cheap prices. Finally the government has come to its senses and took this vital decision. There is just not enough Natural Gas in Pakistan to provide both Domestic and Commercial sectors. On top of that add CNG for cars and you get the situation that we have in winters with no gas for homes, industries or CNG stations. In a scenario like this the first thing to go has to be the CNG stations as cars do have an alternative source of fuel. If you cant afford that then use public transport, or share a ride with your friends when going to work.

A Great Liar | 12 years ago | Reply "I was happy with paying Rs30.38 extra just to be able to peacefully get my car’s cylinder filled five days a week" I am afraid the above mentioned statement is exacly what the CNG mafia was looking to achieve. They are hard bent to impress upon the public that they were much better off buying it on the original higher price. Call it a psychological bullodzing of sorts if you will, and its apparently working. Bowing down to their bullying would set a wrong precedence for the future. I honestly believe that Govt. needs to have a crackdown on the ones responsible. There is time for carrot, and then there is time for a stick....

Sherry | 12 years ago | Reply you forgot to mention the snatching at gun-point for those waiting in queues. nice atricle, partly agree with you.

Ayesha Khan | 12 years ago | Reply everything comes at a cost. The opportunity cost of getting cheaper cng is not being able to run your kitchen on subsidized natural gas, paying more for essential food items such as wheat and vegetables because lower gas supply to fertilizer manufacturers increases the input cost of crops, more load shedding since a lot of power plants run on gas etc etc. So would you rather run your car on cng when you can well afford to run it on petrol or have a macroeconomic crisis in the country? Things aren't as simple as you think .

Parvez | 12 years ago | Reply It was a fun read but you Madam are looking at it from a very narrow, self interest point of view. What we see happening is the result of poor planning by successive governments who had self and political expediency uppermost in their minds. Pakistan's gas reserves are finite and user priority should have been established long ago. Making a mess is one thing but not having the will or good sense to correct it, is tragic.

Nida Farooqui | 12 years ago | Reply @Mustafa I cannot agree more! Its all government's fault. They should have closely monitored the development of this sector.

Nida Farooqui | 12 years ago | Reply Rehman Malik much? Banning/blocking or paying extra money is not a solution to a problem. What we should look for is more permanent answer to this crisis.

Mustafa | 12 years ago | Reply Sidrah, After the reduction in CNG prices was announced, I saw many of my colleagues celebrate what would surely be a significant decline in their transport expenditure. At that time I told them that the SC might be able to dictate the price of CNG but it cannot force the pump owners to sell it. The basic law of demand and supply dictates that anytime you artificially lower or increase the price of a product you will create an imbalance between the two. In this case the price drop has adversely affected what was already a dire supply situation while motivating car owners to purchase more CNG. The result as you correctly guessed is endless lines at gas stations, traffic jams and all round frustration. Unfortunately the decision to allow car owners the use of CNG was a terrible one. In an energy deficient country we have allowed consumers the unfettered use of a scarce resource for what is essentially a luxury (i.e. driving a car in a country where we import $15 bn worth of oil every year and more than 50% of us live below the poverty line). At the same time the government has failed to enact policies to incentivize the exploration of gas by E&P companies. The result? Pakistan has the largest CNG market in the world, while gas supply to essential industry like fertilizers, textiles and power has been severely compromised. I would suggest that the country's judiciary refrain from interfering in the economy, while consumers such as you and I should be mindful of populist and crowd pleasing policies which ultimately harm us.

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CNG woes: Can't you see how miserable you are making us?

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