ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) has announced its verdict in the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) pricing case and declared the pricing formula presented by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) null and void.
A two-member bench of the apex court, comprising Justice Jawwad S Khawaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, had reserved the verdict after hearing the parties concerned on Thursday.
While announcing the judgment today, the SC declared the pricing formula prepared by the OGRA illegal, and ordered the authority to formulate new guidelines to fix CNG prices following the directives provided by the federal government.
The interim order stated that the price of CNG was not in accordance with the law.
The SC also pointed out that the price of per kilo of CNG increased from Rs 33 in 2008 to Rs 95 in 2012, adding that pricing structure included exorbitant additional charges due to which millions of people were affected.
The court remarked that OGRA has failed in protecting the rights of the customers, and that CNG cartel exploited the rights of the people with the help of the government.
On Thursday Ghiyasudin Paracha, Chairman All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA), while talking to reporters outside the court had demanded the government to reduce the price of gas as well as tax besides increasing the pressure to gas stations and end loadshedding.
Also action requied against PTA for not reducing the international call prices despite of court decession.
According to estimates, there are almost seven million Pakistanis living abroad and monthly incoming international traffic to Pakistan is 1.5 billion minutes per month, which means overseas Pakistanis will have to pay between US $120 million to US $150 million extra to the PTA for calling their family back home.