OGRA to hike fines on OMCs for violating law

At present, the regulator can slap fines of up to Rs10 million

ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) is planning to revise upwards the amount of fine on oil marketing companies (OMCs) and refineries for violating rules.

At present, Ogra can impose fines of up to Rs10 million on the OMCs and refineries which flout the law. “The amount of fine imposed on oil marketing companies and refineries is low and we are working to increase the amount,” Ogra Chairperson Uzma Adil told the Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum in a meeting on Friday.

The Senate committee, chaired by Senator Mohsin Aziz, also discussed issues pertaining to the queue system for oil tanker lorries and preference for the lorries compliant with Ogra and National Highway Authority (NHA) standards.

Earlier, the committee had directed that there should be only one queue for the compliant and non-compliant vehicles. However, Ogra has set a deadline of October 2019 for using only compliant vehicles for oil transportation and only six months are left to upgrade the lorries. After the deadline, all non-compliant tanker lorries will be stopped from working.



The committee, after hearing arguments from its members, representatives of Pakistan State Oil (PSO), Ogra and Oil Tankers Contractors Association, directed that PSO should ensure two queues were made with compliant vehicles in one line and non-compliant in another line.

It was of the view that all non-compliant vehicles - whether run by private contractors or National Logistics Cell - should be treated equally.

Taking up the issue of natural gas supply to Dara Adam Khel, the sub-division of Kohat, representatives of the Petroleum Division and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) told the committee that the Peshawar High Court had barred the gas utility from undertaking any other project in K-P before completing work on the gas project in Thal and adjoining areas.

The committee was told that funding for the Thal project had been recommended by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) and it would be ratified by the cabinet soon, which would pave the way for initiation of the project in Dara Adam Khel.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 20^th, 2019.

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