The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has decided to open regional offices in four provincial capitals of the country to cope with increasing complaints of gas theft, hoarding of petroleum products and other issues, it was learnt on Monday.
Following the directions of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources, the regulatory authority is finalising the modalities to set up regional offices in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta to address public complaints. The committee in its meeting on April 16, 2014 had directed Ogra to establish regional offices in all four provinces.
An official told Business Recorder that the need to set up regional offices in all the provincial capitals was felt because of a rising number of complaints by gas consumers. A large number of consumers during public hearings in Karachi had also complained against the SSGC for non-resolution of their issues and hardships being faced by them in the absence of an Ogra office in the city, the official added.
Following the deregulation of oil pricing that led to fixation of prices on a weekly basis, Ogra had been receiving a lot of complaints from across the country over hoarding of petroleum products and overcharging. Many retailers had also resorted to black marketing of oil products, while there were also reports of overcharging by petrol pumps. The official said that Ogra had an effective price monitoring and enforcement division but in most of the cases its activities had been restricted to Rawalpindi and Islamabad. It was, therefore, not possible for the authority to access every province to enforce pricing and standards. He said that initially about 30 officials would be posted to facilitate consumers in complaint registration and enable Ogra to conduct random raids for enforcement purposes.