May 19, 2006	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 20, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, May 18: The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGCL) are sending incorrect and excessive bills to consumers, data gathered by a non-governmental organisation reveals.

In a statement issued here on Thursday, a spokesman for The Network for Consumer Protection said sometimes both the companies sent incorrect bills to consumers that amounted to thousands of rupees and it was difficult to distinguish between a commercial or domestic bill.

Complaints of incorrect and excessive billing registered with Consumer Complaint Cell (CCC) of The Network had witnessed a sharp increase in the first quarter of the current year, the spokesman said.

The data with us shows that such complaints are increasing and consumers are left with no other option but to either pay the amount or enter into a painfully long procedure of getting their bills corrected, he added.

He said The Network had written to both the companies about the issue, adding that in some cases they had formally admitted their faults and compensated the consumers.

He said the companies should be more vigilant while issuing bills since most of the consumer, due to lack of awareness, did not contact the company or some government or civil society organisation to get compensation.