Pakistan PM orders probe into PKR 50 billion gas bill scandal

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 20 (ANI): Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered a probe into the staggering PKR 50 billion gas billing debacle that has blindsided thousands of industrial and CNG consumers with retroactive charges dating back nearly a decade, Dawn reported.

According to The Dawn, citing sources, the move comes after widespread outrage from businesses that were suddenly slapped with bills for dues allegedly accumulated between 2015 and 2022.

Former Pakistan's federal secretary Shahid Khan will head the investigation, as industrial bodies and CNG operators protest.

As per Dawn, the heart of the controversy is the Lahore-based Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), which issued the revised bills based on updated price notifications from the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra).

According to these, the power sector allegedly owes PKR 40 billion, the industrial sector PKR 14.4 billion, CNG PKR 3.8 billion, and the fertiliser industry PKR 2.4 billion, totalling nearly PKR 60 billion, the General Sales Tax (GST) and late payment surcharges.

These bills are based on RLNG (Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas) prices that were "actualised" nearly a decade late, in December 2024, nearly seven years after the billing period ended, Dawn reported.

Predictably, the original notifications were quietly removed from Ogra's website, only to be reissued in March 2025.

Thousands of businesses, including 2,950 industrial and 1,200 CNG consumers, are now caught in legal limbo, armed with past stay orders and furious at being made retroactive scapegoats for regulatory mismanagement.

Many have argued that they sold or exported their products long ago, with no legal or practical means to recover the shock charges.

As per Dawn, the dispute has also exposed a PKR 76 billion subsidy shell game, with the government still failing to reconcile the massive difference between RLNG market rates and subsidised prices given to "priority" industries.

Meanwhile, Ogra and SNGPL are playing the blame game. While SNGPL insists it simply followed regulatory instructions under clause 3 of the Gas Sales Agreement (GSA), Ogra is standing by its interpretation of the law, insisting the recoveries are legally valid. (ANI)

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