ISLAMABAD: Meeting of the Senate Special Committee to discuss implementation of report on the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) Bill-2015 postponed Tuesday.
The meeting was scheduled to recommend settlement of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) sector's outstanding amount on account of GIDC.
In previous meeting, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had said that the government was in negotiation with CNG sector to settle the outstanding amount.
He had apprised the body that the government could not waive any tax on its own as any settlement regarding recovery of the outstanding GIDC could only be made through the Parliament.
He said the CNG stations had collected the GIDC as per notified tariff of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), but did not pay to the government.
Representatives of All Pakistan CNG Association (APCNGA), led by Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha, had apprised the body that they held meetings with officials of the ministries of petroleum and finance, and offered to pay Rs 10 billion against the total some Rs 32 billion outstanding amount to settle the GIDC payment issue.
The committee chairman Ilyas Ahmad Bilour was of the view that the GIDC was meant for the gas infrastructure development but it was not being utilized appropriately.
Minister Khaqan Abbasi brushed aside the impression and said that the GIDC was being spent judiciously, adding that a gas pipeline from Karachi to Lahore was being laid at an estimated cost of Rs 1500 billion to transport regasified liquefied natural gas.
The body discussed that the bill should be treated sector wise and noted that all sectors were ready to pay but not retrospectively.
While, the ministry took the stance that The GIDC Act 2015 as passed by the parliament provided that the cess collected by the company from gas consumers under the GIDC Act 2011 and GIDC Ordinance 2014 would be valid under the provisions of the GIDC Act 2015.
"Therefore, the question of not paying the cess retrospectively does not arise."
The committee had suggested that there should be a certificate from professionals like Federal Board of Revenue or chartered accountant firms whether any entity collected the GIDC from consumers or not, directing the concerned to devise a mechanism accordingly.
The committee, headed by Ilyas Ahmad Bilour, is consisted of members Lt Gen (Retd.) Abdul Qayyum, Islamuddin Shaikh, Professor Sajid Mir, Muhammad Zafarullah Khan Dhandla, Saleem Mandviwala, Osman Saifullah Khan, Muhammad Ali Khan Mohsin Aziz, Muhammad Talha Mahmood, Hasil Khan Bizenjo, Hilal ur Rehman, Saeed Ghani, Saeed Hassan Mandokhail, Muhammad Usman Khan Kakar and Muhammad Mohsin Khan Leghari.
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