Ogra put forward its recommendations to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources, saying that only rickshaws, taxis and public buses should be allowed to run on CNG, while all private cars should be transferred to petrol.
The committee agreed with the recommendations and said that a six-month deadline should be given to private car owners to switch their cars from CNG to petrol.
The committee, requesting the CNG association to reopen stations, assured that the tax tariff of stations and other industries will be made uniform.
Standing Committee chairman Jamshed Dasti told Express News that a uniform tax will ensure that the CNG stations do not go into a loss and prices are also not raised.
“We have asked the CNG association to reopen 400 stations which were earlier closed down,” Dasti said.
The recommendations will also be forwarded to the Supreme Court.
After the apex court fixed a price for CNG in the country, the associations had announced an indefinite strike claiming that they were facing a loss due to the new lowered prices.
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COMMENTS (60)
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I think commenting on this government and policy makers is devaluation of the words. I will wait untill a Day of Judgement is called. Then these all policy makers will be on the other side of the table and that day will decide who did what in the world.
I am doing my work with integrity and passion everyday. But the pain which I am facing in terms of economic pressures and miserable life, I will definitely ask my God, Today want to see what do you do with these policy makers and rulers. I want to see.
Lets wait, Rulers
I think the most feasible solution is to restrict its use to private vehicles below 1000 CC and public transport.
The price has to be revised according to the forensic report carried out by independent auditors to ensure a fair margin to CNG station owners and a cheaper alternate to petrol for consumers.
The shortage of Gas is chiefly due to line losses, inefficient power generation processes, inefficiency by industries using gas to generate their own power like textiles and general consumers not regulating their heating appliances at home. If CNG which is a source of major savings for middle class is seen as a "wastage" we forget that this sector too employs thousands of people and has created several peripheral jobs.
It is quite clear this Govt has a vested interest in shutting down CNG and bringing in LPG. Our petroleum minister has clear stakes in the import of LPG and has already setup various fronts to benefit from this business with the (dis) honorable President of our country taking a lions share of the profits that will be generated. Already this group of thieves devour $ 10-15 from each barrel of Oil that is brought into this country as commission.
Hailirious! How can they make irrational decisions. The Public transport is already running on CNG but the fare they take is the same what they used to take when buses were on Diesel. They must revise the policy. Private cars above 1000cc must be banned for CNG.
We are not willing to pay any taxes, but we want our transport system to be similar to London or NY.
@p r sharma: Do u have a car ?
Wise decision but I don't think it will be implemented at all. When a person can afford a car then one should be able to maintain it as well . Seriously why buying a car when u cant handle it's expenses . Demand for better and cheap commercial transportation.
CNG should be given to those who have valid NTN number as tax payers no matter what vehicle they are using.
The court will never accept the recommendations of non provision of CNG to private users as it is against the basic rights guaranteed in the constitution of Pakistan to general public.
loadshedding occurs govt announce saturday to holiday,, now cng issue govt ban cng on pvt cars,, ahhahahha this is the solution or the escape from the solution
Wrong. People should have the benefits of low cost fuel. CNG should be used for private transport and small public transport. While buses and trucks should be on Diesel. Industries etc. should be on Alternative Energy mostly Solar. Now the technology has matured and and doing well. We may not have to burn precious dollars on just buying fuel.
Excellent decision! But implementation?
@p r sharma: Have you ever ridden in a public transport in Pakistan? Here is a hint: It is nothing like in developed countries.
Reason for CNG stations closure is because the owners are facing "loss" in business, with the proposed "solution", how could the situation could get better when average number of consumer go to the lowest number?
@Antebellum: "The CNG was always meant as a fuel for the private cars, no-one can afford petrol! " As CNG has become a scarce commodity therefore its use has to be prioritized and naturally public transport( which are beneficial for the masses and not he individual one) will be preferred over the private cars . if private owners cannot afford petrol then they can switch to public transport . Some one who likes the comfort of own car are expected to sacrifice and pay for petrol. This is the social justice and be acceptable to all without crying.
I wish someone exposes the likely kickbacks these guys are getting from oil companies and LNG importers!
@ammar who told you that CNG decreases useful life of a car
SC Zindabad... Relief from SC, its the one who started all this.
CNG replaces Petrol which cost PKR 150 per KG to import.
Gas for industry replaces Furnace Oil wich Costs PKR 65 per KG to import.
Gas for Fertilizer replaces Fertilizer which Costs PKR 40 per KG to import.
CNG gets gas at PKR 60 per KG.
Industry get Gas for PKR 32 per KG.
Fertilizer (Engro) gets gas for PKR 5 per KG (yes its 5).
now tell me which sector should get the gas.
you can verify all figures from OGRA/Google/TCP.
Ban profit-making minds! Rationalize use of natural gas. Cut taxes on petrol. If these dont work leave the country, "who is stopping them".
@Wajid: The supporters are those who either don't own cars or can afford to run them on petrol.
I agree with OGRA. Why because women in home can't get enough gas pressure to cook meal AND GET hot water and heating. Most importantly factories which needs Gas also can't get enough gas to keep running factories. In this way Paksitan is lossing its economy.
Why on the first place private car owner were allowed to use CNG. No other country is allowing this much CNG to used in private cars. Pakistan wasted Gas in last 10 years by allowing everyone to use CNG in cars.
Only 2 mostly important places are where Gas should be available.
1- Home 2- Factories which necessarily need Gas to process work.
You cannot use petrol and diesil at home but in cars. So best fuel for cars is Petrol and diesel.
@Ahmed: wise move? uless wise means idiotic
Instead of banning CNG to private cars OGRA should be abolished as it has failed to control the prices of CNG in the country. I think CNG stations are striking at the instance of corrupt OGRA officials who are responsible for anti-public policies. The illelegal assets of the corrupt OGRA officials should be investigated and confiscated.
It is direct attack on middle and lower class. why not bring significant amount of buses in the public transport so that people don't have to use cars at least for going to work. very simple solution which nobody in the government seems to think about because their priority is not relief to the common men.
"Ban" is the only word these authorities and so-called technocrats can suggest. First step should be to send them to learn basic economic principles.
reduce the petrol price to 70 then ban the cng we have no problem
ha HA Ha HA Ha Haaa Daaaahhh ! no wonder pakistan is still a third world country now i understand how these illiterate mofos are making their decisions for their own benefits the prices of cng are still high compare to the other countries around the world. the gas station owners are making mad profits well its time for us to look into CNG compressor kits at home ;) when there is a will there is always a way
Now these Fake Degree holder will decide the CNG future !!
people in ogra have turned MAD. for crying out loud at least have some mercy on poor people of pakistan.
and those who support it, for god sake, do you know the cost difference between petrol and CNG. if you can afford that doesnt' mean, everyone can.
CNG stations should be shut down all across Pakistan asap. We should save the gas for our industry's. We have to be smart and utilize gas in the best way possible.
gas is for the industries not to be wasted as fuel for car. Period.
As an individual I hate it As a Pakistani I support it
I am an employed engineer in my early 40s. I never thought about abandoning Pakistan despite all law & order issues and high inflation. But I think I've been too naive to have stayed back. The country isn't for people like me; it's for Zardaris, Gillanis, Chaudhrys and similar blood sucking species. People around me are leaving - it's just a matter of time when I also run out of hope.
Can some body please tell them that these big transport buses sector consumes major portion of the CNG overall usage.
Yet they are not providing any relief to public as fares are also in accordance with diesel rates if one can remember.
If they are crying over to save natural gas and generate more revenue, in this case public transport should be banned I think.
All people supporting the ban on CNG should staright their facts. CNG only consumes 8% of the total gas consumed by the whole country.
Reduce petrol price then.
WTF !!!
@Nadir: totally agree with you. Poor are in majority & they don't even own bikes let alone cars but Government has to strictly regulate public transpiration since they have been charging poor people (real ones) at the rate of diesel not on CNG they use. Ban CNG & keep this important gas resource of our country for productive operations i.e businesses, power houses (cheap electricity) & for households.
High time we take this decision. We have wasted natural gas like this which has never been done any where in the world. Utter waste of natural gas
This is an excellent desicion as gas is required for food to cook rather to fuel up the car hope this should be implemented at any cost
Ready the pitch forks.
Their should be a proper policy, if a customer can afford to buy 20 lac car he can also afford 100/ liter petrol, but about a middle class family who has 20 year old car of 2 lac he cant afford petrol. allowing cng for buses alow transporter to gain full profit, they are taking fare on base of diesel prices whats good for poor people, nothing.
Great Move........ What a relief plan…….? CNG for taxi rickshaw & buses. presently they are using CNG & charge prices of Petrol from customer. Where there is no good local transport system, even people from low income group prefer to go to work on bikes/ own car due to bad transportation system, no future development in this area is in preference of national government.
Decision is discriminatory. Those who pay the taxes are the sufferers.
What about the Private Cars under 1000 cc and Taxis? With Foreign Reserves looming around 13 billion and repayments to IMF, has the Government of Pakistan enough liquidity to pay off OIl Bill considering that Pakistan spent 15 billion Dollars on oil imports alone? I don't think so....Besides this, the Judiciary is very active, some one will surely challenge this stupid decision of Government in Supreme Court...
WoW!!!
Instead of putting a ban on CNG fitted public and Loading Transport the OGRA is throwing the trash on general public!!! Only because the people in the OGRA and the Committee own those buses so why should they suffer!!!
@Nadir: Mr.Nadir you must be aCNG owner or an Industrialist. How easily the Standing Committee has agreed to the suggestion from OGRA. What will happen to the lasc of Car Owners. Will the Govt pay for the CNG kits apart from using expensive fuel. Adding salt to the wound. All a drama to provide Gas to the Industry & make the CNG station owners further rich. Why not stop Gas to the Industry who earn 300% profit by using Gas. I hope the SC looks after the woes of the Public.
Should be implemented ASAP...
What a farce! Why is this PPP government trying to squeez the middle-class? The CNG was always meant as a fuel for the private cars, no-one can afford petrol!
So, implementation of this decision would mean that the CNG stations would lose a major chunk of their customers in one go, which would eventually result in a number of stations running out of business. Like Nadir has pointed out earlier, with the elections looming, none of this is likely to happen as many elected ministers are stakeholders and own a number of stations themselves. Instead of private cars, OGRA should recommend the ban of use of CNG in vehicles greater than 1000cc and then eventually phase it out as well over the next couple of years.
The country is full of resources but not exploited instead people are being exploited
How about a ban on OGRA.
Absolutely correct recommendation by OGRA.
I strongly protest against this recommendation .i believe all cars below 1000 CC should be allowed to use CNG . in time of inflation it will be increasingly difficult for middle class families to afford petrol. Our public transport is not that efficient to encourage masses use it for daily commuting . Also Public transport is charging fares of petrol , what difference does it make ?
A very wise decision, but who will bell the cat ? the government does not have capacity to enforce this bold decision.
CNG had been started for private vehicle owners so that the environment could be made eco-friendly. This plan was put forth by the previous government and economics came into the equation only when the petrol prices started to rise at the start of 2005. Now instead of putting a check on public transport they are now asking us private transport owners to change to petrol. Where is the justice in this!!!!!!
Great Move........ What a relief plan from government……….? CNG for taxi rickshaw & buses. presently they are using CNG & charge prices of Petrol from customer.
In Pakistan we can expect such relief. Where there is no good local transport system, even people from low income group prefer to go to work on bikes/ own car due to pathetic transportation system, no future development in this area is in preference of national government. Great…………………..Recommendation……………….??????
Geo…………OGRA Genado…… OGRA
Definitely the right decision, but with elections coming up, will never happen,.