ISLAMABAD: Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) Chairman Saeed Ahmed Khan said that the government should empower the Authority to control prices of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), saying, “The current status of the Ogra is confusing and market players are using legal weaknesses to manipulate the prices.”
Speaking at a news conference, Saeed Ahmed Khan said that Ogra was dealing with the LPG sector under LPG (Production and Distribution) Rules 2001 and the prevailing policy of the government under which the prices and allocation of LPG are deregulated. He said that under Rule 18 of LPG rules, producers and marketing companies are required to notify prices of their LPG on monthly basis and inform the regulator, adding that the licensees were also required to publish their prices in the press.
As per policy LPG producers can charge any price from marketing companies without any benchmark or legal provision for interference of Ogra in so far producer prices were concerned.
However, he said, Ogra was monitoring the prices of LPG producers and consumers through daily consumer price data from major LPG marketing companies. The prices notified by LPG marketing companies are published in the newspapers and also placed at Ogra website, he added.
The Ogra chairman said the Authority had imposed Rs4.2 million fine on LPG companies under licensing rules. He said that Ogra had taken serious notice of the LPG price hike and immediately dispatched inspection teams in the cities where LPG prices were reported high, including LPG storages and filling plants in all provinces
