The government has abolished the slab concessions given in the gas bills and fixed the uniform tariff for the commercial and domestic consumers. Now those who would utilize one MMBTU will have to pay the bill amounting Rs 4501 in addition to taxes.
The decision of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) came to surface ,after increase of at least 600 percent in the tariff of natural gas, the authorities of Sui gas distribution companies i.e. Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) have demanded almost 140 percent increase in the tariff on which the Prime Minister has shown the anger and issued directive to OGRA to review the affairs of these companies and present a forensic report within one month describing the reasons of excessive enhancement in the tariff.
It is a very strange phenomena that the gas tariff was increased three times during the last one year while the salaries, allowances and perks of the high officials of the gas distribution companies have swelled to Rs seven billion.
Now it is high time that the gas distribution companies should deal with the gas thieves and big defaulters with iron hands to curtail the deficiency. The outdated distribution system, gas leakage and line losses should be fixed on a war footing basis to diminish the burden on the consumers.
The government should also bring some legislation to fix the upper limit of salary and incentives for all the heads and high-ups of the public sector and autonomous corporations, which should not be more than pay and allowance of the officer working in BPS- 22 in the government sector at any cost. so that the culture of getting more and more advantages from the taxes paid by the public should be changed in the country
If the government is really serious in fulfilling its tall claims of providing relief to the common man, it should eliminate free distribution of electricity, gas and petrol to all the ministers, parliamentarians high ranked government officials as well as staff of the electricity and natural gas companies without any discrimination to equal the load on the entire nation.
If a low paid worker who is getting a few thousands on monthly basis can pay his utility bill from his limited resources, then why not those who have monthly income in millions can afford to pay the charges of energy resources that they use, from their own pocket, instead of putting liability on national exchequer.
It has become a routine of the government that one month they increase the price of petroleum products, next month the price of gas is increased and in the third month the cost of electricity is enhanced. Now the sequence of squeezing the people should be stopped as they have lost the buying power due to the unwarranted hike in their utility bills and after a few months they would be on roads to protest, which will cause troubles for the rulers.