OGRA urged to take LPG stakeholders on board

LAHORE: The Pakistan LPG Marketers Association (PLPGMA) has demanded the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) to take stakeholders on board on the proposed LPG Policy 2021, a statement said on Friday.

In a letter written to the OGRA chairman, PLPGMA Chairman Farooq Iftikhar said that the Ministry of Energy, under the guidance of LG’s Director-General, has hastily and surreptitiously drafted the LPG Policy, which has not been circulated to any LPG marketing company for their feedback or comments.

This policy is different from the one that was earlier prepared by the Planning Commission, which had invited all stakeholders to provide their comments, he said.

The regulator is aware that the current fiscal incentives being provided to imports, by waiving off regulatory duty and charging a concessionary rate of 10 percent general sales tax (GST) has wreaked havoc in the LPG market by the flooding of cheaper Iranian products.

Iftikhar said that in reality 100 percent of LPG imported into Pakistan, which is of Iranian origin was already at least Rs30,000/MT cheaper than the indigenous production and if anything, additional taxes and duties need to be applied to imports to equate its price with that of domestically produced LPG.

To make matters worse, the new policy is advocating several measures, which would further stress local producers.

He said under the proposed policy, any person/company would be allowed to import LPG without having a valid OGRA licence, adding that 20 percent share of LPG production of the state-owned producers is to be provided to the provincial holding companies without a fair and transparent disposal mechanism.

The disparity in taxation between imported and indigenous LPG is to continue with added incentive to imports by removal of advance income tax, at import stage, and any vessel arriving in the country, which is unable to discharge its cargo, be allowed to be re-export; thus, legitimising sale of Iranian product from Pakistan, are a matter of deep concern for the stakeholders, he added.