PEOPLE have heaved a sigh of relief after a massive slash in CNG prices, hoping that benefit would also reach them in terms of low transport fares, but the transport mafia, arrogantly ignoring the very idea of the Supreme Court order to provide some relief to the poor, has refused to cut down the transport fares proportionately.

Commuters travelling from Wah Cantt to Rawalpindi are complaining that although the transporters are availing themselves of low priced CNG, the fares are not being reduced.

The Punjab government and the Regional Transport Authority must take action against the transport mafia and force them to slash the transport fares in proportion to the low cost CNG is now made available.

Moreover, regional transport authorities and the traffic police should be given clear directives to enforce the new fares that could benefit the common man also.

Several countries are doing away with expensive liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) but in Pakistan the CNG sector is being closed to boost import of costly fuels.

Countries, including India and Bangladesh, do not have any indigenous substitute for gasoline; they lack proper gas infrastructure but they sell CNG at low price as compared to Pakistan.

Gas is an indigenous resource, which is economical and clean as compared to imported fuels, which are costly and unfriendly to environment.

The CNG price in Thailand is 76.70 per cent less as compared to the price of petrol. Similarly, in Bangladesh, CNG is available at 68.61 per cent less price than petrol, Indonesia 51.65 per cent and in India it is 58.84 per cent of the cost of petrol.

As a policy, the US and several EU countries are promoting the use of gas to reduce dependency on imported fossil fuels.

The total consumption of CNG in Pakistan is not more than eight per cent and yet the sector is paying more taxes as against any other sector consuming gas.

The CNG sector needs immediate attention of the authorities concerned as billions have been invested in this sector and 3.5 million cars have been converted, while millions were directly and indirectly employed in this sector.

M. ARSHAD NADEEM
Wah Cantt

‘Losses’

AFTER zeroing the operational cost following the Supreme Court order, the CNG industry’s loss per kg since Oct 25 till date is Rs8.63 per kg.

One MMBTU is approximately equal to 19.05 kg. At the current rate of 618.55 MMBTU, Ogra SRO dated Oct 25, each kg of gas cost Rs32.46, GST on this amount is Rs10.97, other charges/GIDC is Rs11.44, and advance tax is Rs1.29. Total gas charges per SNGPL bill are Rs56.19.

The electricity cost per kg is Rs8.28, salaries Rs2.90, other expenses, including lubricating oil, mobil oil, wear and tear, are worth Rs2.90, totalling Rs14.08. The grand total is Rs56.19 plus Rs14.08 which is equal to Rs70.27.

This does not include diesel charges for running the generator during loadshedding, NHA charges for using road shoulder, TMA charges for sign boards, third-party inspection by HDIP, etc.

DR MURAD ALI SHAH
Mardan

Transport mafia

EVER since the court decision for reducing the CNG price, some CNG stations are reluctant about providing full services to consumers. It has been observed that some CNG stations are using only half the dispensers available at stations due to which long queues can be seen on CNG stations, especially before CNG holiday.

The CNG industry, after making hefty and unjustified profits, should provide some relief to consumers.

ATHAR DURRANI
Kotri