Khyber News

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources has rejected a proposal for weekly price revision of oil products, and has instead directed the Petroleum Ministry to set prices on a monthly basis.

During a session here on Wednesday, the Petroleum Ministry informed the NA committee that the decision to revise prices weekly was taken on a trial basis for three months keeping the consumers’ interests in mind.

 

However, the NA committee rejected the decision. The committee also rejected any hikes in prices of petroleum products.

 

Earlier on Tuesday, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had approved the request of the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Petroleum Dr Asim Hussain to revise petroleum prices on a weekly basis, overruling opposition from the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra).

 

Ogra had reported that price revision from a monthly to fortnightly basis had resulted in problems to consumers as retail outlets stopped selling products in anticipation of higher price to earn inventory gains and slowed down purchases from marketing companies in case of falling prices to avoid losses. It believed the weekly pricing would create more problems that would be even more difficult for the regulator to keep an eye on.

 

During Wednesday’s meeting of the standing committee on petroleum, member Shehnaz Sheikh said that Ogra had “set up its own kingdom,” alleging that the authority had committed countless malpractices and acts of corruption with awarding licenses to CNG stations despite a ban.

 

Another member of the committee, PPP leader Jamshed Dasti said that the former Ogra chairman Tauqeer Sadiq was a relative of PPP Secretary general Jahangir Badar, “which is why he could not be arrested.”

 

Dasti further said that it should be inquired from former Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani why the licenses were issued despite a ban on the setting up of new CNG stations in the country.