SHC summons Ogra, petroleum authorities over hike in POL prices

• Petitioner said the present govt has increased POL prices on 16 occasions, whereas prices were dropped only twice.
• Govt increased on New Year’s Eve petrol price by Rs2.61 per litre and High Speed Diesel by Rs2.25 per litre for  January, 2020.

The Sindh High Court issued on Thursday notices to Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), petroleum ministry, law ministry and other authorities against the increase in prices of petroleum products.

The court has summoned the respondents till January 14 and sought the mechanism of price increase of petroleum products. “Irregular hike in petrol prices has added to the problems of the people,” said advocate Irfan Aziz.

The petitioner said that the present government has increased POL prices on 16 occasions, whereas the prices were dropped twice. The petitioner added that the government is charging Rs65 per litre on petrol.

On New Year’s Eve, the government increased the price of petrol by Rs2.61 per litre and High Speed Diesel by Rs2.25 per litre for the month of January, 2020.

As per the notification issued by Ogra, the entire increase in all the petroleum products has been passed on to the consumers. As per the notified prices an increase of up to 3.2 percent in the prices of various petroleum products has been allowed for the month of January.

As per the notification, kerosene oil has been increased by Rs3.10 or 3.2 percent and Light Diesel Oil by Rs2.08 per litre or 2.5 percent.