The federal government has asked the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) to revisit its decision of banning CNG/LPG/LNG in public service vehicles (PSVs) and suspend the decision for at least 90 days.
The Petroleum Division has approached the OGRA and Punjab transport authority and asked the OGRA to withdraw the notification of banning CNG/LPG/LNG in PSVs.
The letter was written to the provincial government of Punjab after a meeting was held on Tuesday between the representatives of CNG sector and secretary Petroleum Division.
According to the letter written to secretary transport Punjab, Petroleum Division stated that the government of Punjab may consider providing a period of three months to the CNG vehicle owners to operate as per the OGRA SOP dated Sep 26, 2013.
During the period, the Petroleum Division argued that the CNG sector would submit proposals with respect to installation design of cylinders in PSVs which would be jointly examined by the OGRA and HDIP for necessary amendments in the existing CNG Safety Rules, 1992 (standard code of practice) during the same period. This would avoid unnecessary hardships/nuisance to be faced by the public at large as the holidays for Eidul Azha are approaching fast.
"The provincial government may also consider meeting representatives of the CNG Association," the letter reads out.
The CNG Safety Rules 1992 (Standard Code of Practice) cover the procedures and standards for refilling of CNG and installation of CNG cylinders in the vehicles.
According to the relevant rules: i) no vehicle shall have its cylinder or cylinders mounted on the roof; ii) cylinders shall be mounted inside the perimeter of the vehicle in a protected location. Cylinders shall not be located so that the vehicle driving characteristics are adversely affected; iii) and for motor vehicles, other than sedan, the preferred mounting location for a cylinder is transversely, behind the rear seat or beneath the vehicle. Cylinder mounting beneath the vehicle shall not be decreasing the effective ground clearance.
After the Gujrat school van incident of 2013, the OGRA in consultation with all the stakeholders developed standard operation procedures (SOPs) with respect to the number of CNG cylinders and installation design of the same in public service vehicles especially hiace/vans/ pickups which were notified to the provincial transport secretaries, IGPs, motor vehicle examiners on September 26, 2013.
The said letter remained in field until July 17, 2019 when the OGRA on the request of the Punjab Provincial Transport Authority withdrew the same citing its conflict with Motor Vehicle Rules, 1969. This has led to an outcry from the CNG sector as the motorway police and Punjab transport authorities have started a crackdown on PSVs and also issued instructions for non-refilling of CNG in PSVs.
In a reference, the Petroleum Division stated that the transport department, government of Sindh, vide its notifications issued on May 8, 2015 and August 7, 2015 while imposing a ban on the use of CNG/LPG in inter-city PSVs (excluding taxi cabs and three vehicle rickshaws) provided a period of three months from the date of notification to existing CNG-based PSVs for conversion from the CNG to petrol/diesel.
Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court has reportedly suspended the notification of banning CNG/LPG/LNG in PSVs.
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