Gas companies plundering poor to benefit rich: PEW
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Ogra fulfilling objectives of stock brokers illegally
The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Wednesday said gas companies are punishing masses with the help of Ogra by charging masses for the losses during gas distribution and theft.
Ogra has allowed gas companies to charge masses for 4.5 percent of their losses but now the companies are trying to push up the ratio of losses to nine percent to generate more profit for their shareholders, it said.
Ogra has become a tool in the hands of some of the directors of the gas companies who are also influential stockbrokers, said Dr. Murtaza Mughal, President PEW.
In a statement issued here today, he said that gas companies should reduce corruption and stop penalising masses for their mismanagement.
He said that enhanced ration of losses, if allowed, will hike the price of gas resulting in a wave of inflation which will hit many critical sectors of the economy.
Dr. Murtaza Mughal said that almost 400 million cubic feet gas is wasted daily in the country and the same amount is imported spending billions of dollars which is unjustified as it continue to widen trade gap.
He said that Ogra is been dominated by those who has put the interests of masses on the backburner and it promoting the interests of influential which has multiplied the value of share of a gas company by five times in few months.
Those who have important positions in gas companies continue to blackmail government on the issue of transmission and distribution of LNG which should be stopped, he demanded.
A former chairman of Ogra increased ration of losses from 4.5 percent to 6.5 percent which resulted in a NAB case and allegations of corruption of Rs 42 billion but now a bigger crime is being committed therefore it must be notices, demanded Mughal.
