OGRA has failed to protect consumer rights: Senate panel

Committee asks oil regulator not to follow irrational govt orders.

ISLAMABAD:

The Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat, Inter Provincial Coordination and Special Initiatives has hit out at the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), saying it has failed to protect rights of consumers and has become subordinate to the federal government as far as oil price fixation formula is concerned.

In a meeting on Thursday, the committee, headed by Senator Shahid Bugti, asked the oil regulatory body not to follow “irrational orders” of the government while setting prices of petroleum products. Top officials of Ogra gave a briefing to the lawmakers about functions of the body.

Senator Salahuddin Dogar was of the view that the government was not against the people but there were some serious issues involved in price fixation formula that should be analysed before criticising the government.

The convener of the committee observed that whenever petroleum prices are increased, rates of everything including transport fares shoot up, but in case of decrease in oil prices, rates of other commodities remained unchanged. “We cannot allow the regulatory authorities to toe the government’s line and put the burden on poor people,” Bugti said.

Ogra’s Senior Executive Director Jawad Nasim told lawmakers that the authority only performed computation for petroleum product prices, but the federal government had powers to change petroleum levy on oil prices.

He said under Section 21 (1) of Ogra Ordinance 2002, the government may, as and when it considers necessary, issue policy guidelines to the authority on matters of policy not inconsistent with provisions of this ordinance or the rules and the authority shall comply with the policy guidelines in exercise of its powers and functions and in making decisions.

Committee members decided to defer the technical presentation to next hearing as Ogra could not submit its reply on time. The committee took exception to the conduct of government officials, mentioning in the minutes that it was routine for government organisations to submit required documents late.

The committee asked the Ogra chairman to come up with viable options and give a detailed briefing in next meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th, 2011.