SC rejects plea to increase CNG prices, seeks record

The Supreme Court (SC), while rejecting the plea to provide relief by increasing CNG prices, has sought details of the tariff accounts on Wednesday.
A two-member bench comprising of Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain heard the case pertaining to the price of CNG.
In his remarks, Justice Khawaja said there is a cartel in the country and it appeared as if prices are fixed on its demands. He said business is done on the basis of profit, if it suits the businessmen they must carry on else they should shut it down. He further added that the court wants to scrutinize the issue as per law and does not care whether CNG stations are closed or phased out.
During today’s hearing, Salman Akram Raja, the counsel for Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), presented his arguments before the bench. He informed the court that the new pricing was formulated after including the input from public hearings and stakeholders.
The court sought records pertaining to the tariff accounts of 3395 CNG stations, pointing out the existence of filling stations operating without licenses and asked four questions in this regard.
The first query related to the number of requests the Ogra had received for CNG stations licenses, followed by the second question regarding the number of licenses issued by the regulatory authority.The court continued to inquire about the number of license requests rejected by Ogra and the number of licenses ‘pocketed’ by station owners.
During the hearing, Justice Hussain said the matter was in the courts and a section of society was being severely affected by it, adding that, the ministry of petroleum should attend to the issue for the sake of public interest.
The court inquired of what action was taken on violation of law when licenses were being issued. “These details are necessary before we proceed further,” Justice Khawaja said.
Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, lawyer of the Sindh CNG Association, contended that the court doesn’t have an authority to decide CNG price.
The court, later, adjourned the case till tomorrow (Thursday) and directed OGRA to submit details of licenses for CNG stations along with their audit report.
Speaking to media outside the court, Chairman CNG Association Ghayyas Paracha said that court’s decision regarding the pricing formula would be accepted by the CNG dealers.