PTI to Move Islamabad High Court Over Soaring LPG Prices
LPG cylinders being carried on a motorcycle (file photo)
ISLAMABAD: The opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced it will approach the Islamabad High Court over soaring LPG prices, accusing profiteers of fleecing households while the government looks the other way.
Official rate Rs294 a kilo; market charging up to Rs800
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has notified LPG at Rs294 per kg for November, yet consumers in different parts of the country are being charged between Rs600 and Rs800 per kg. On that basis, the official price of an 11.8kg domestic cylinder works out to Rs3,470 — but in the market the same cylinder is selling for more than Rs7,000.
PTI demands forensic audit within 30 days
PTI Central Secretary Information Sheikh Waqas Akram told Dawn the government had failed to take concrete measures even though LPG is essential for millions of households, particularly those without piped natural gas. He asked how retailers could charge nearly double when the regulator had announced a far lower rate, and demanded an investigation into the companies, importers and distributors he said were pocketing the difference. The party wants a forensic audit of the entire supply chain — imports, customs declarations, bank transactions, domestic production, company inventories, storage records and retail prices — with preliminary findings made public within 30 days.
Rs2.8 billion a day, by PTI’s count
According to the party, Pakistan consumes around 7,000 tonnes of LPG a day against domestic production of roughly 2,000 tonnes, leaving the country heavily dependent on imports, particularly from Iran. PTI calculates that an extra margin of Rs400 per kg across daily consumption adds up to Rs2.8 billion a day — Rs84 billion a month. It has also demanded that the companies benefiting from the quota system be named, unlawfully collected amounts recovered, and affected consumers compensated. The crisis deepened after the Gabd-Rimdan and Taftan border crossings with Iran were shut on 17 October, choking imports; the federal cabinet approved a new transparent auction system for locally produced LPG on 4 November, and the first meeting of the LPG committee was held on Saturday.
