OGRA scraps plan to register LPG distributors

Distributors asked to avoid dangerous practice of decanting.

ISLAMABAD:

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has said it has scrapped plans to register liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) distributors, which was prompted by growing incidents of gas cylinder blasts, leading to loss of lives and injuries.

“If you (distributors association) don’t accept registration, so does the authority, then you should avoid the dangerous practice of decanting which forces the authority to take measures like registration,” said Acting Chairman Mansoor Muzaffar while speaking at a convention of LPG distributors on Monday.

Earlier, Ogra had sought a list of authorised distributors of marketing companies for their registration in order to ensure safety.

Muzaffar said distributors need to strictly observe the checklist prepared by the authority to ensure safety. He asked the distributors to register complaints with the authority against marketing companies that were not returning security fee to them, adding the authority would resolve or refer cases to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

Referring to a complaint, the acting chairman said Ogra’s doors were open to resolve the distributors’ problems and all the authority officials were supposed to cooperate as they were drawing salaries from the taxpayers’ fund.

Muzaffar sought two weeks’ time to meet demands of distributors including increase in commission from Rs70 to Rs100 on an 11.8kg cylinder, announcement of LPG prices once a month, ban on manufacturing small cylinders to discourage decanting and bringing uniformity in prices of imported and local LPG.

LPG Distributors Association Chairman Muhammad Irfan Khokhar appreciated the draft of LPG production and distribution policy 2011, which aims to increase gas supplies through domestic production and imports to cater to the rapidly increasing demand and stabilise prices.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 26^th,  2011.