In contradiction to its claims of making efforts to curb gas theft, the government has approved a massive increase of 13.5 percent per mmBTU in gas tariff across the board for all consumers to cover up for the abnormally high losses, unaccountable for gas (UFG) of 10 percent by the two state owned gas utility companies. An official source said Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani approved the increase in gas prices on Saturday which would be notified by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Monday.
The massive hike in gas prices has been made to save gas utility companies, where the government has forcibly inducted more than 7,000 loyalists in the last two years, from defaulting. The people would now have to pay the price for the government’s irrational decision. There would be a significant increase in inflation as the price of CNG and cost of production on industrial units would significantly go up. The domestic consumers would be the most affected, as their gas bills would increase significantly. The CNG prices would increase by Rs 7 per kilogramme as that would also include the monthly adjustment in fuel prices by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA).
The tariff for domestic consumers using up to 100 units would be increased from Rs 95 per mmBTU to Rs 108 mmBTU and for those using up to 300 units it would be increased from Rs 190 to Rs 215 mmBTU.
The tariff for the CNG sector would increase from Rs 503 to Rs 572 per mmBTU while from the industrial sector it would be increased from Rs 382 to Rs 430 per mmBTU.
