Inflated gas bills have appearing once again, and increased the agony of people in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
“I was really shocked when my son gave me a gas bill of Rs 11,340. That is almost equal to my monthly earning! I have with protesting with some others almost daily against the massive gas load-shedding,” said a dejected Mattiullah, resident of Pandora, Rawalpindi.
Mattiullah said that it seems like the authority is sending gas bills without reading the meters, indicating that inflated bills were being sent to poor consumers under a well-thought-out strategy that aimed to mask their poor recovery performance, and to make up for the line losses.
Noman, who works with an NGO in Islamabad, told Pakistan Today that even though gas is available for only an hour or two during the day, he was shocked to find that the bill he received was for Rs 8,470. He added that he had been billed only Rs 523 in the previous month.
Lashing out at the authorities, he said that the incumbent government is little concerned about the miseries being faced by the poor of the country, and added that it could be judged from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s announcement of slashing petroleum products (POL) prices by only Rs 5, whereas Ogra had recommended a much higher reduction.
Shazia, a widow and mother of four daughters, said she received gas bill of Rs 5,354. She said that she had no option but to seek a loan to pay the bill, because it was beyond her financial capacity to afford it otherwise.
Zeeshan Ali, a dweller of Bhara Kahu, said that he was a labourer and had received a bill he could not pay.
He said he voted for Nawaz Sharif with the hope that after coming into power the PM would fulfil the promises he made during elections and ease their woes, but he was bitterly disappointed to see the fast aggravating situation of the poor.
The irate people also expressed anguish over the date of submission for the bills. They demanded that the government change the bill submission date from the very end of the month to the 10th day of each month. They said that they had no money left by the end of the month.
A Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) spokesperson could not be reached for a comment, despite repeated attempts.
