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Summary Pakistan plans to transfer LPG price-setting powers from OGRA to a new company, enforce official rates, restrict sales and improve cylinder safety standards.
LAHORE (Web Desk) – The government has decided to transfer the authority to determine liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) prices from the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) to a newly established company comprising Pakistan State Oil (PSO), Sui gas companies and other oil firms.
According to the report, the new company will determine LPG prices, with its first task being to set rates for the coming month.
The Ministry of Petroleum said all LPG distributors and retailers would be required to sell the commodity at the officially notified price. Action would be taken against those charging consumers above the prescribed rate.
Under the proposed measures, LPG will only be sold through authorised pumps and outlets operating in accordance with regulations. Authorities have also launched action against illegal LPG sellers.
The government plans to promote the use of standardised, OGRA-approved cylinders ranging from two to five kilogrammes to reduce accidents caused by substandard containers.
Consumers will be required to exchange empty cylinders for filled ones rather than having LPG refilled in their own containers.
Shops found filling substandard cylinders could face sealing and heavy fines.
The government also intends to work with companies to make affordable, quality cylinders available in the market.
Meanwhile, LPG Distributors Association Secretary General Rana Abdul Jabbar told Express News that the association was ready to cooperate with the government, provided it supplied standardised cylinders at subsidised rates.
He said the association opposed illegal LPG sales and supported measures to prevent accidents. He added that retailers had been advised against filling defective cylinders and that the association would not defend those violating safety regulations.
However, he urged authorities to return confiscated pumps and equipment to affected retailers after imposing appropriate fines instead of destroying them, saying some shopkeepers had purchased the equipment through instalments.
