Government asked to withdraw 31pc increase in CNG prices

PESHAWAR: The owners of the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) on Thursday asked the government to withdraw 31 percent increase in the prices of the commodity.

Addressing a press conference, provincial chairman Imad Khalil said the government had increased the CNG taxes by 83 percent during the last 10 months. He said the CNG tariff was Rs700 from September 2018 to July 2019 while it had now been increased by Rs1,283, adding government was bent upon ruining the CNG business.

“There are 522 CNG stations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where about 0.15 million people are employed and they will lose jobs if the CNG sector is closed,” he assessed. He said the government had made life miserable for the people by passing the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-dictated budget.

The office-bearer said the government against the claim of providing 10 million jobs was bent on rendering the people jobless. He asked the government to withdraw the 31 percent increase or else they would chalk out a future course of action against the government.