CNG, petrol prices cannot be linked: Supreme Court

Lashing out at bureaucracy, the Supreme Court Wednesday questioned the method for reviewing petroleum prices on a weekly basis and its linkage to CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) prices.

A two-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry heard the case on mechanism of fixing petroleum prices and of linking prices of gas to petrol.

The chief justice said, “The civil bureaucracy responsible ‘to make effective the energy policy of the government’ failed to satisfy the highest court of the country regarding price mechanism of petroleum products.”

He also asked Secretary Petroleum Dr Waqar Masood and Chairman Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), “So don’t insist on theoretic arguments tell us why the common people are being crushed in the name of different charges and fluctuation in the prices of these products.”

The debates continued all day on this issue, after which the army of the secretaries finally confessed that gas, a domestically produced fuel, does not have anything to do with petroleum products, which are mostly imported.

The chief justice observed that the linkage of the price of imported petrol with the dollar is understandable, adding that CNG is domestically produced and questioned its linkage with the price of imported petrol.

Chairman OGRA Saeed Ahmed Khan informed the court that tariff is determined by OGRA subsequent to submission of a tariff petition by SNGPL and SSGCL twice a year (July and January).

The Chief Justice observed that in that case tariff for the consumers should also be determined biannually instead of on a weekly basis.

Chairman OGRA also informed the court that gas price for consumers can be determined biannually upon which the Chief Justice queried how the authority would compensate the consumers for the weekly raise in tariffs paid so far.

The bench also observed that instead of acting as a regulator, OGRA has become a redundant body within the new mechanism of fixing petroleum prices.

The court also said that there must be a mechanism under which OGRA should implement its policies as a regulator and should ensure the interests of the consumers.

The bench also made it clear that it will pass an order, probably on Thursday, about new arrangements for fixing petroleum prices.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=34452

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Oct 25 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.