Govt asked to remove ban on gas connections

Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) President Muhammad Shakeel Munir has called on the government to urgently lift the ban on new commercial and domestic gas connections as the business community is facing great difficulties.

He said that the continuous ban on the provision of new gas connections was causing trouble for the business community and the people alike and the backlog of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) was also increasing. Munir highlighted that the restriction came into effect in December 2021, which had not been lifted yet, depriving a large number of people of vital energy supplies. At the same time, “SNGPL’s backlog has reportedly reached 2.8 million applications”.

He underlined that new gas connection was not available even to those who were seeking it under the “urgent category” by depositing a heavy fee of Rs25,000.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had also demanded that the Petroleum Division immediately withdraw the curbs and start installing new gas meters, but the PAC’s order “has not been implemented so far”. He urged the government to give a serious consideration to the important issue as many members of the business community and citizens in Islamabad were facing difficulties due to the continuous ban on new gas connections.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20^th, 2022.

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