ISLAMABAD: With consumers paying Rs600 to Rs800 per kg for LPG, nearly double the officially notified rate, the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has announced that it will approach the Islamabad High Court (IHC) over alleged profiteering and the government’s failure to protect households from excessive prices.
The PTl has also urged the government to investigate the widening gap between the official and retail prices, recover unlawful gains and hold those responsible accountable.
According to the opposition party, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) notified the LPG price at Rs294 per kg for November, but consumers in different parts of the country were being charged between Rs600 and Rs800 per kg.
Talking to Dawn, PTl Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram said the government had failed to take concrete measures despite the commodity being essential for millions of households, particularly those without access to piped natural gas.
He questioned how retailers could charge such high prices when the regulator had announced a substantially lower rate, and demanded an investigation into the companies, importers and distributors allegedly benefiting from the price difference.
Waqas Akram called for a forensic audit of the entire LPG supply chain, including imports, customs declarations, bank transactions, domestic production, company inventories, storage records and retail prices.
He demanded that preliminary findings be made public within 30 days.
According to a statement issued by the party, Pakistan consumes around 7,000 tonnes of LPG daily against domestic production of approximately 2,000 tonnes, making the country heavily dependent on imports, particularly from Iran.
The PTl leader said an additional margin of Rs400 per kilogram across daily consumption of 7,000 tonnes could translate into Rs2.8 billion a day and Rs84 billion a month.
He also demanded disclosure of companies benefiting from the existing quota system, recovery of any unlawfully collected amounts and compensation for affected consumers.