The Lahore High Court suspended the recently-imposed Petroleum Development Levy (PDL) on locally-produced LPG on Monday. Hearing identical petitions on the matter filed by Senior Advocates Supreme Court Shahid Hamid and Khwaja Tariq Rahim, the court suspended the notification of January 16, 2012, from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources that imposed a tax of Rs11,486 per tonne on all LPG produced in Pakistan. The ministry’s decision to impose the PDL, despite protests from the LPG industry and consumers had made the liquid gas fuel the country’s most expensive. The court’s suspension of the PDL is expected to rationalise prices of LPG.
“We are grateful to the honorable court for its decision,” said Belal Jabbar, spokesman of the LPG Association of Pakistan (LPGAP). “This is the second time that the court has intervened on behalf of LPG consumers nationwide,” he said, adding that LPG demand has dropped some 30 per cent since the PDL was imposed last month. “Suspension of the levy will improve access to the product and stabilise the market, which had been roiled by policy inconsistencies.” The suspension of the PDL has also been welcomed by LPG distributors. “The Petroleum Development Levy had forced LPG consumers to switch to cheaper alternatives and had put tens of thousands of jobs in the LPG sector at risk,” said Ali Haider of the official All Pakistan LPG Distributors Association. “The court’s decision is welcomed by all LPG stakeholders across the value chain and it will provide relief to LPG consumers across the country.”
