Islamabad [Pakistan], August 20 (ANI): Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered an investigation into the staggering PKR 50 billion gas billing scandal that blindsided thousands of industrial and CNG consumers with retroactive charges dating back nearly a decade, Dawn reported.
According to sources cited by Dawn, the move follows widespread outrage from businesses suddenly hit with bills for dues allegedly accumulated between 2015 and 2022. Former federal secretary Shahid Khan has been appointed to lead the inquiry as industrial bodies and CNG operators continue protests.
At the center of the controversy is the Lahore-based Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), which issued revised bills based on updated price notifications from the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra). According to these figures, the power sector reportedly owes PKR 40 billion, the industrial sector PKR 14.4 billion, CNG PKR 3.8 billion, and the fertilizer industry PKR 2.4 billion—amounting to nearly PKR 60 billion including General Sales Tax (GST) and late payment surcharges.
These bills are tied to RLNG (Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas) prices that were “actualised” almost a decade late, in December 2024—seven years after the billing period had ended, Dawn reported. The original notifications were quietly removed from Ogra’s website, only to be reissued in March 2025.
Now, thousands of businesses—2,950 industrial and 1,200 CNG consumers—are caught in legal limbo, many protected by past stay orders but furious at being retroactively penalized for regulatory mismanagement. Several argue that they had long since sold or exported their products and have no legal or practical means to recover the sudden charges.
The dispute has also revealed a PKR 76 billion subsidy discrepancy, with the government still struggling to reconcile the gap between RLNG market rates and subsidized prices given to “priority” industries.
Meanwhile, Ogra and SNGPL are locked in a blame game. SNGPL maintains it acted strictly under regulatory instructions outlined in clause 3 of the Gas Sales Agreement (GSA), while Ogra stands by its interpretation of the law, insisting the recoveries are legally valid. (ANI)
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