Consumers wait for new gas connections as ban intact

Rawalpindi : The residents of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad have appealed to the government to lift the ban on new gas connections for domestic consumers.

Former Energy Minister Hammad Azhar imposed a ban on new gas connections for domestic users. Over 2,000 domestic consumers, who had paid all dues for new gas connections are yet to get gas connections since October 2021.

Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) Senior General Manager (Rawalpindi Region) Syed Mukhtar Shah told ‘The News’ we were expecting to lift the ban in March 2022. “Decision regarding lifting the ban on new domestic connections will be taken by the federal government within a week,” he hoped.

He also said that domestic consumers were continuously visiting his office for new connections, but he was helpless before the government ban.

Former Energy Minister Hammad Azhar announced imposed a ban on new gas connections for domestic users. He imposed the ban in the month of October 2021.

At that time, he said that the ban will remain in place until the government introduces a new pricing mechanism to bill consumers for imported gas. “The local gas reserves are depleting at a rate of 9% per annum. The government does not have a legal mechanism to collect the costs of imported gas from consumers. We have forged a consensus on a new pricing mechanism but till its legislation, the government is halting all expansion in domestic gas networks,” he wrote on Twitter at that time.

Talking to ‘The News’ domestic consumers belonging to different walks of life condemned the former government’s decision regarding the imposition of a ban on new domestic connections of natural gas.

Riaz Ahmed Butt from Banni said that he has already paid all dues to get a new gas connection but in vain. We are using expensive LPG for years. “I am appealing to Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to lift the ban on new domestic gas connections,” he said.

Israr Ahmed from Adiala Road said that he was anxiously waiting for a new gas connection but the concerned authority said that the former government imposed a ban on new gas connections for domestic users. “How many months we would to bear with this ban,” he condemned.