Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered an independent investigation into the controversial Gas Billing dispute of RS50 billion that involves groups of influential consumers and the gas services sector.
The investigation will be directed by former federal secretary Shahid Khan, after complaints from industrial consumers and CNG who received sudden invoices for past gas quotas, which date back to 2015.
The sources confirmed that the prime minister has constituted a special investigation committee to examine the matter. The disputes focus on the Northern Northern gas company based in Lahore LTD (SNGPL), which issued revoses reviewed for the period between April 2015 and June 2022. These bills were based on updated notifications of the Petroleum and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA).
According to these notifications, the industrial sector must RS14.4BN, the RS40BN electricity sector (ultimately payable for electricity consumers), the CNC RS3.8bn sector and the RS2.4bn fertilizer sector. The accounts payable total amount to RS59.8bn, including RS51.3bn in differential gas charges and approximately RS8BN in the General Sales Tax (GST), in addition to the charges for late payment.
The problem has caused concern, particularly among the industrial sector, which claims to have ensured stay orders in the past to avoid such payments. Around 2,950 industrial consumers and 1,200 CNG consumers have protested, arguing that they have strong legal motives to challenge additional charges. These groups claim that in the last decade, they have exported or sold products and had no means to transmit additional billing costs.
This billing dispute is further complicated by a subsidy claim of RS76 billion against the government. The differential in liquefied natural gas prices (RLNG) for export -oriented industries and the fertilizer sector is subsidized by the government, but the recoverable amounts of consumers have been billed.
Both Ogra and SNGPL have blamed each other for legal errors. The SNGPL sources explained that OGRA issued RLNG prices updated for the period from April 2015 to June 2022 in December 2024, but then eliminated the reviewed notifications of its website after the amendments requested by Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and Pakistan LNG LTD (PLL). Subsequently, Ogra re -issued RLNG prices on March 28, 2025, covering a period of 84 months. SNGPL has charged the differential amount to RLNG consumers under clause 3 in accordance with gas sales (GSA).
The sources also argued that Ogra should not have reviewed RLNG’s rates ten years ago. Instead, they suggested that the authority should have followed the recovery of the differential amount between provisional RLNG prices and rates updated prospectively, similar to the way in which the fertilizer sector handled its payments.
They warned that retroactive statements could be almost impossible to collect, and consumers will probably seek suspension orders in court. This could undermine confidence in the regulated gas sector and feed the growth of private entities outside the regulatory framework.
Obgra’s spokesman Imran Ghaznavi, defended the regulator’s actions, stating that he had been determining RLNG’s monthly prices, which were now updated. He clarified that, according to the gas sales agreement (GSA) and the SNGPL consumer service manual, the differential between provisional and real RLNG prices was recoverable in future invoices, not in a single invoice.
Posted in Dawn, August 20, 2025
