Gas tariff increased by up to 63 percent

ISLAMABAD: The government has increased the gas tariff from 13 to 63 percent with effect from September 1 (today).
Meanwhile, in an ungenerous move, the government avoided passing on the full relief to the masses on Monday despite a massive plunge in oil prices in the international market and imposed GST and a Rs10 petroleum levy on petrol and diesel to jack up revenue.
The move has helped the government siphon off more than 50 percent relief in the prices of petroleum products which could have been passed on to the masses.
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) issued a notification of the hike in the gas tariff.
The tariff has been raised by 10 percent for commercial consumers, 22 percent each for the industrial sector and power sector and 63 percent for the fertiliser sector.
The raise in tariff for the industrial and power sector will expose the business community across the country to a sharp increase in the cost of doing business. The tariff for category three domestic consumers has been increased by 13 percent.
According to the comparison between the previous and new gas tariff available with The News for domestic consumers consuming up to 100 cubic meters a month, the tariff has increased from Rs106 per million British Thermal Unit (MMBTU) to Rs110 per MMBTU.
For domestic consumers consuming 100 to 300 cubic meters, the tariff has increased to 220 per MMBTU from Rs212 per MMBTU. Domestic consumers using above 300 cubic meters per month will now pay Rs600 per MMBTU against the previous Rs531 per MMBTU.
For the cement sector, the tariff has been increased to Rs750 per MMBTU from Rs743 per MMBTU.
The tariff has also been increased to Rs700 per MMBTU for the CNG sector from Rs600 per MMBTU.
For the commercial sector, the tariff has soared to Rs700 per MMBTU from Rs637 per MMBTU and for general industry it has been upped to Rs600 per MMBTU from Rs488 per MMBTU.
Similarly, tariff for captive power plants has ballooned to Rs600 per MMBTU from Rs573 per MMBTU.
Under the notification, the tariff for fertilizers-feedstock (New) has increased to just Rs72 per MMBTU from existing tariff of Rs68 per MMBTU.
Similarly, for fertilisers-feedstock (Old) the tariff has also surged by up to Rs200 per MMBTU from Rs123 per MMBTU.
However, for fertilisers fuel, the gas tariff has massively increased by up to Rs600 per MMBTU from the existing Rs488 per MMBTU.
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) had recommended a reduction in the prices of petroleum products.
The prices of petrol and diesel have been slashed down by just Rs3 per litre each though the regulator had recommended a reduction of Rs6 per litre in the price of petrol and of Rs7.60 per litre in the price of diesel.
The finance ministry bosses imposed GST and petroleum levy on petroleum products to collect Rs10 billion instead of giving a massive relief to the masses.
A Rs3 per litre reduction in the prices of other products was also suggested but the government, which is facing difficulties on the revenue collection front, slashed down the relief.
Petrol will now sell at Rs73.76 per litre, high speed diesel at Rs82.04 per litre, kerosene at Rs57.11 per litre, light diesel at Rs53.59 per litre and HOBC at Rs79.79 per litre.