ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has been compelled to hold a public hearing on November 6 to revise the past 10 years of Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) prices following legal challenges and protests from industrial and CNG consumers. The review, mandated by the Lahore High Court’s Multan Bench, carries an estimated financial impact of around Rs150 billion.
The court ruled in September that it was “against principles of fairness” to impose retrospective gas charges without first hearing the affected consumers. As a result, Ogra has invited all RLNG consumers, stakeholders, and petitioners to present their objections regarding RLNG sale prices from April 2015 to June 2022.
For years, Ogra has issued monthly RLNG sale prices to Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd (SSGCL) on a provisional basis, without public consultation, contrary to the Ogra Ordinance and government pricing policies.
In July 2023, SNGPL submitted actualisation data based on audited accounts from all stakeholders, leading Ogra to issue revised RLNG prices in December 2024 and again in March 2025. These adjustments resulted in retrospective billing for seven years, creating a financial burden for industrial and CNG consumers—prompting appeals to the prime minister and the courts.
Following the revised notifications, SNGPL billed consumers Rs61 billion in backdated charges — including Rs14.4bn for industries, Rs40bn for the power sector (borne by electricity consumers), Rs3.8bn for CNG stations, and Rs2.4bn for fertiliser manufacturers. The total includes Rs51.3bn in differential gas charges, Rs8bn in sales tax, and late payment penalties.
Around 2,950 industrial units and 1,200 CNG station owners have protested the retrospective billing, saying they cannot recover costs from products sold years ago. They have sought government relief, citing financial distress and legal grounds.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in August 2025 ordered an independent inquiry, led by a former federal secretary, into back-billing complaints worth Rs50bn. The outcome of that inquiry remains pending.
Meanwhile, both Ogra and SNGPL have traded blame for the regulatory lapse. SNGPL claims Ogra initially issued actualised prices for April 2015–June 2022 in December 2024 but later withdrew them for revision after PSO and PLL submitted amended data. Ogra reissued the tariffs on March 28, 2025, covering 84 months, after which SNGPL billed consumers for the differential amounts.
Prices for FY23–FY25 remain under review and are expected to be finalised soon.
Story by Khaleeq Kiani
