LPG Association Seeks Action Against Black Marketing

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Industries Association of Pakistan are at loggerheads over black marketing/over-pricing of LPG in various areas of the country. LPG Industries Association of Pakistan Chairman Irfan Khokhar has written a letter to Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani about black-marketing and over-pricing in LPG prices by up to Rs. 200 per kilogram in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Kashmir amid floods in the country. The LPG Industries Association Chairman, in his letter, stated that over-pricing by up to Rs. 200 per kg (Rs. 2400 per domestic cylinder and Rs. 900 per commercial cylinder) is being done in the ongoing month of September 2022, as a result of which LPG worth Rs. 8 billion is being black-marketed in the country. OGRA has so far not taken any action against the gas mafia which has a monopoly on local LPG production, he alleged. He highlighted the ill-treatment and misbehavior of OGRA’s member gas in the presence of the OGRA Chairman with a delegation of the LPG Distributors Association during a meeting held on 12th September 2022. He said that OGRA had summoned this meeting on his complaint against the powerful cartel involved in black marketing of LPG and minting around Rs. 8 billion from LPG consumers. Documents show that the Senate Standing on Cabinet Secretariat will also take up this matter in the upcoming meeting. The cabinet division has directed OGRA Chairman to furnish comments by Monday (today) on this matter. Member gas OGRA told ProPakistani that all the allegations are baseless; however, OGRA will submit its reply to the cabinet as well as the senate secretariat. He stated that the LPG Association Chairman has asked for an LPG quota, however, OGRA told him that the companies give the quota on profit and bonus and OGRA has nothing to do with any quota now. Member gas OGRA also said that his contract with the authority would be expiring in November, so a campaign has been started against him.