Shortage: Gas suspension petition dismissed

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Friday dismissed a petition challenging suspension of gas supply to CNG stations in the province. The judge hearing the petition said uninterrupted supply of gas was a right of the domestic consumers. The petitioner, a CNG pump station owner, had named the Federation of Pakistan, the Ministry of Petroleum and the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority as respondents.The petitioner said since last month, the government had suspended supply to CNG stations, saying there was a shortage of gas. He said the government had told CNG station owners that gas was being supplied to domestic consumers as they were a priority. He said the government should not suspend supply to CNG establishments as this was against a violation of rights and amounted to discrimination. He said last month, CNG station owners had suffered huge losses. He said the Ogra was issuing warnings to CNG station owners and cancelling their licences.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2014.