Consumers shocked to see lofty gas bills

LAHORE:Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (SNGPL) has slapped consumers fixed charges more than the amount of their respective monthly fuel usage.

Consumers have been shocked to see this month's excessive gas bills. A consumer complained that he was stunned by exorbitantly high fixed charges levied by gas utility on domestic connections. 

‘I received gas bill of Rs2,190, which is based on monthly gas usage of Rs814,’ said Abdul Qadeer. Hence, my actual gas use is lesser than the fixed charges, which is simply incomprehensible, he regretted. It may be noted that the additional monthly fixed charges are being added to the November bills. As per the decision of imposing new surcharge, the non-protected customer will pay fixed charges of Rs1,000 per month for usage of up to 1.5 hm3, while Rs2,000 will be slapped on gas usage exceeding of 1.5 hm3. The protected users will pay an additional bill of Rs400 per month.

An official of gas utility said that the monthly fixed charges were added with the approval of the government. According to an estimate, fixed charges being collected from consumers ranges between Rs60 to 70 billion annually.