ISLAMABAD, July 2: Confusion prevailed over the price of CNG after the government claimed the increase was Rs5.58 per kilogram while some gas retailer associations calculated it to be as high as Rs9.

On Wednesday, outlets in various areas of the country continued to sell CNG at Rs51.25 a kg even after the government clarified that the increase was a mistake.

Many outlets continued selling CNG at the pre-increase rate of Rs38.25 per kg in compliance with their associations’ decision.

Two Sindh-based organisations decided to raise the price to Rs47.25 instead of Rs51.25, while a Punjab-based organisation —All Pakistan CNG Association which claims national representation — said it would wait for two days to announce new rates.

The association’s chairman Sanullah Rehman told Dawn after a meeting that his association had decided to sell CNG at Rs38.8 a kg for the next two days to compensate its customers for over-charging because of the government’s mistake.

An official told Dawn that the petroleum ministry had failed to persuade stakeholders in the CNG sector to sell at government-specified price of Rs43.9 per kg.

The official said that the associations had rejected government-calculated rates and told the ministry officials that they would raise the price by including overhead expenses like electricity charges and the cost of petrol to run generators during loadshedding.

The government on Monday increased the price for CNG stations to Rs388.32 per MMBTU from Rs291.36 – an increase of over 31 per cent.

Official calculations of the petroleum ministry available with Dawn showed on the basis of this increase the gas price for CNG stations rose to Rs17.09 per kg without taxes and other charges from Rs12.79, showing an increase of Rs4.30.

With the increase in gas rates, the general sales tax rate was increased to Rs4.11 per kg from Rs3.07, an increase of Rs1.04 and the rise in withholding tax was Rs0.87 per kg from Rs0.63, an increase of Rs0.24

The delivered cost, including taxes, to the CNG stations rose to Rs22.07 per kg after the recent increase from Rs16.49, showing an increase of Rs5.58 per kg. However, CNG stations were charging Rs21.84 per kg, which raised the consumer price to Rs38.33 per kg previously.

According to the official, CNG stations owners are now pushing for including other charges, including salary and electricity bills, which will further raise the retail price.

As representative of more than 1,000 members across the country, Mr Rehman said the actual increase would be calculated after two days in consultation with association’s members. “We have not calculated yet.”

The chairman of the Karachi-based CNG Station Owners Association (CSOA), Malik Khuda Buksh, issued a statement after the meeting and announced that his association’s members would sell CNG at Rs47.25 per kg – Rs9 higher than the previous rate – from July 3.

He agreed with the after-tax rate of Rs43.83 per kg, but said the association had also added Rs3.42 as cost of diesel and petrol (to run generators during power cuts), staff salary and other costs of running their businesses.

He said the prices of CNG in Lahore would be Rs47.05 a kilo, in Peshawar Rs49.5 and Islamabad at Rs47.8.

Chairman of the CNG Dealers Association Abdul Sami Khan, who also claimed countrywide representation, said that his association would sell CNG at Rs47.25 a kg from July 3.