Speaking to the media, PPOA President Haji Abdul Razzaq said that during the last few days, Haripur’s IDO imposed a penalty of Rs6,000 on six filling stations for reportedly overcharging consumers. The step was taken through Haripur’s assistant commissioner.
Razzaq explained that since petrol pump owners are bound to pay Rs11,000 on every 10,000 litres of petrol as carriage charges to oil tankers, they charge an extra rupee per litre on the price fixed by Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra).
He claimed pump owners have been following the practice for the past several months across K-P and the administration was well aware of it.
Razzaq accused the IDO of collecting Rs2,000 to Rs3,000 per month as extortion, threatening pump owners to either pay up or face a penalty. Yet, Razzaq claimed, the IDO imposed fines on owners of six petrol pumps in Haripur.
The PPOA president said pump owners are ready to follow the rates fixed by Ogra if the government is willing to waive off carriage charges. He reiterated PPOA will protest and take the IDO to court if the latter did not revoke the fines.
Though IDO Musharraf Khan was not available for his version, an official of the Industrial Development Department, Haripur said complaints of profiteering and inaccurate measurement at the hands of pump owners were common. This, he said, was why the IDO was forced to take action against violators. He stressed the act of imposing fines was legitimate and rejected claims of demanding any gratification.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 3rd, 2014.
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