Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) Chairman Saeed Ahmed on Wednesday said that they have failed to reach a consensus over the new CNG prices with All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA).
Talking to media outside Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP), the chairman said that they would present a new CNG pricing formula in SC on next hearing decreasing the prices as compared to earlier mentioned in the formula of November 19.
He further refused to comment on lowering the taxes and said that the government could comment on lowering the taxes on CNG.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a plea by CNG station owners for hike in the gas price and sought details from Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) about CNG licences along with audit reports.
A two-member bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Jawad S.Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, resumed hearing of the case.
In his remarks, Khawaja said the court has its own powers and that it has nothing to do with whether the pricing formula issue was on agenda of the federal cabinet.
On onset of the hearing, the counsel for OGRA presented his arguments in the court.
The court sought details from him as to how many applications were received for CNG stations licences; how many of them were accepted; how many licence requests were rejected and how many accepted.
The court enquired of what action was taken on violation of law when licences were being issued. “These details are necessary before we proceed further,” Justice Khawaja said.
The bench ordered OGRA to submit details of tariff and audit reports of CNG stations.
Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, lawyer of the Sindh CNG Association, contended that the court doesn’t have an authority to decide CNG price.
Meanwhile, the CNG Association chairman Ghayyas Paracha confirmed that no consensus was reached over the new prices but they would accept the SC verdict on the issue.
Speaking to media outside the court, Ghayyas Paracha said that court’s decision regarding the pricing formula would be accepted by the CNG dealers.
The court, later, adjourned the case till today (Thursday) and directed OGRA to submit details of licences for CNG stations along with their audit report.
It is to be mentioned here that a constitutional petition was filed in the Supreme Court of Pakistan to nationalize all the CNG filling stations across the country on Tuesday.
