Committee directs OGRA to negotiate prices with CNG association

All Pakistan CNG president says the CNG prices issue has been exacerbated since government did not reduce taxes.

ISLAMABAD: Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat on Wednesday directed the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) to negotiate with CNG association to fix CNG prices with an approach to mitigate the sufferings of public as well as owners of CNG stations.

In the meeting chaired by Senator Kalsoom Parveen, the committee asked the All Pakistan CNG Association president Ghayas Paracha to sit with OGRA Chairman Saeed Ahmad to figure out an amicable solution to cope with the prevailing issue of CNG prices.

Ahmad said that CNG prices will be fixed on December 1 and the prices reduced through the Supreme Court decision will also be adjusted. He added that authorities increase and decrease the price of petrol and CNG according to a formula provided by the Cabinet Division.

Paracha said the All Pakistan CNG Association has written several letters to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to reach a consensus to resolve the CNG crisis, but had received scant response.  He said the issue of CNG prices was aggravated due to the policy of bringing the prices of CNG and petrol at an equal level.

The APCNGA president further stated that the apex court decision to reduce prices of CNG has burdened station owners since the government has not reduced any of the corresponding taxes.

The committee also called for proper legislation on OGRA ordinance 2002 to give it a completely autonomous status so that the authority can take decisions that give relief to the masses. In its current form, committee members observed that OGRA is unable to take its decisions in terms of increasing and decreasing petrol and CNG prices independently.

The selection criteria, qualification relevance and technical expertise of the appointed members of OGRA will be checked by the committee.

Senators Dr Saeeda Iqbal, Abdul Haseeb Khan, Kamil Ali Agha, Begum Najma Hameed and officials of OGRA attended the meeting.