The CNG Association has presented a pricing formula to Oil and Gas Regulation Authority (Ogra) on Wednesday, threatening to close down a thousand CNG stations if prices are not reviewed, reported Express News.
According to All Pakistan CNG Association Chairman Abdul Ghyas Paracha, Ogra has been informed through talks regarding the pricing of the gas as well as the loans taken from banks.
He demanded that Ogra should provide them with profit after working out the production price as per the Supreme Court’s orders, and then the CNG price should be determined.
Following a Supreme Court verdict on CNG and petrol price assessment case, Ogra had slashed the CNG price by around 33%. However, CNG dealers claim that the cumulative cost of CNG for them, including the price charged by the gas company, taxes and the operating cost, was more than what is calculated by the authority.
On Tuesday, Ogra served show-cause notices to 44 CNG stations over suspension of operations at new prices following the Supreme Court.
COMMENTS (17)
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@Lt Col Imtiaz Alam(retd):
Like it runs everything else. Education, Health, Steel Mills, Army, etc. All run at 4-5 times actual costs
They cant keep it closed for long, they also need money to survive :p Soon some cng stations will start opening their business and rest will follow and cng monopolist association will have no significance...
Let all the CNG Stations should shut down in the country, it will not make any difference on the end users, as they have alternate to use which is Petrol.
When there was no CNG facility in Pakistan, people use to run their vehicle on Petrol and after closure of CNG Stations, people will revert back to Petrol.
Now how is that for extortionist behavior? The CNG Association is trying to use public suffering as a bargaining chip. We as the general public should not be put up with this. They would rather punish the general public instead of lowering (their already insane) margins. SC take note - this thuggery is an attempt to dishonor your rulings - the real question therefore is - what will you do about it?
There is no shortage of natural gas in pakistan. According to a survey in 2009 the natural gas fields are expected to last for another 20 years. The only factor is human greed and bad governance. The only reason I can think of is merely to create an artificial shortage and a gloomy picture to increase prices and to gain support for LNG import and get kick backs and bribes.
@Lt Col Imtiaz Alam(retd): They could have done this if Licenses were awarded on merrit and not Rishwat:-)
I beleive that underhand cost (bribe) paid by owners to obtain licences are unlikely to cover in next 25 years on current price set by OGRA and SC. That is what they are moaning about, either give us more profit or give us our money back :-)
Since whatever time OGRA +CNG Union has been charging people extra, the amount in arrears needs to be calculated and paid back to the people in form of further reduction in prices. Furthermore, OGRA officials should be jailed/fined for misinterpreting the verdict and not cutting on taxes that the CNG owners pay them back. OGRA should also be lashed for the gas load shedding in industrial sector.Surprisingly no such load-shedding is observed on pumps.
CNG Association should think about the general public, the inflation they are facing due to rising fuel prices. Since Natural Gas is an internal product and is not imported there is no need to increase price but only revenue distribution needs to be figured out.
They should not forget, their customers are general public who've given them lively-hood in the first place.
What's Plan B, our jack-of-all-trades Mr. Ch Iftifkar?
@Tariq Nasim: If CNG stations are too close, they would be competing for the customers. Either you charge more on a small customer base, or you maintain the same profits, by lowering price and increasing your customers. That's why in main cities, you can always get CNG at below official rates. Only in monopoly, there can be price gouging. This is the simple basics of free market economy.
Why is it so difficult to arrive a fair price. Can be done easily by any Chartered Accountant. Why every party is hiding the full and complete picture. There is definitely something fishy in whole affair.
Why this was not monitored by Govt or regulatory body earlier. We know that these CNG stations have grown like mushrooms without planning (even within 50m distance). The profits should be regularized by independent governing body and checked for all manufacturers. The profit should be made by reducing the OPEX and these companies should submit the Balance sheets so that latter they can be accounted for.