ISLAMABAD: The price of liquefied petroleum gas has declined by Rs12 per kg across the country as the Petroleum Development Levy (PDL) imposed on LPG has been suspended by the Lahore High Court.

With the suspension of the levy, which was implemented on the local producers under the LPG Policy 2011, the JJVL, Parco, OGDCL etc., have reduced the price by around Rs11,500 per ton.

The decline means a drop of Rs140 per domestic cylinder, the rate of commercial cylinder has declined by Rs560 effective from Thursday across the country.

Since the LPG is deregulated sector its prices are determined by demand and supply mechanism, however, due to travelling distance the prices are different in various cities.

The Lahore High Court has suspended the three key clauses of the LPG Policy 2011 which made it mandatory on the LPG producers to import 20 per cent of their sales and the authorising the SSGC and the SNGPL rights to all the production and filling units in the country.

The LPG Association approached for the LHC to get these clauses suspended.

“The local LPG industry had no option but to approach the courts given the ministry’s open hostility,” said Belal Jabbar, spokesman for the LPG Association of Pakistan (LPGAP).

“The directives of Lahore High Court have impacted the market very positively, prices have come down,” he said, adding “even now, we request and urge the ministry and Ogra to exercise prudence and work with the LPG industry to promote and protect the public and national interest.”

He said that the LPG industry considered the suspended clauses as ‘controversial’ because they were aimed at providing monopoly rights to the public sector, raising local LPG prices through imposition of a special tax and force the LPG marketing companies to purchase imported LPG from brokers which possibly would be the subsidiaries of SNGPL and the SSGC.

Different LPG marketing companies have filed three cases so far against the LPG policy, which was formulated without stakeholders’ input.

Member of the LPG Association, Fasih Ahmed said that the companies had to take the legal course after petroleum ministry declined to discuss the issues with LPG producers and LPG marketing companies despite repeated requests.

After the massive reduction in prices by the producers the new LPG rates for Karachi is between Rs93 and Rs105 per kg where the domestic cylinder costs Rs1,070 to Rs1,210.

The new rates for Lahore, Sialkot, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Sargodah, Faisalabad, Jhang, Khanewal and Mirpur areas are Rs98 to Rs110 per kg, where the price of domestic cylinder has declined to Rs1,130-Rs1,270.

In Dera Ghazi Khan, Jhang, Multan, Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ismail Khan, the LPG price is Rs108-Rs120 per kg.

The decline has benefited the residents of Murree, Rawalpindi and Islamabad where the average price of LPG ranges betweenRs118 and Rs130 per kg.

For the Swat, Balakot and parts of Azad Kashmir the new LPG price is Rs123 to Rs135 per kg, in Gilgit-Baltistan and FATA region the LPG prices are between Rs128 and Rs140 per kg, the price of one domestic cylinder in these areas ranges between Rs1,490-Rs1,630.