December 29, 2006	Friday	Zilhaj 07, 1427

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LAHORE, Dec 28: The Pakistan Railways has decided to approach the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) for settlement of its dispute with the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (SNGPL) over late payment surcharge arrears.

“We are drafting an appeal against the SNGPL’s decision that will be submitted with Ogra after vetting in a couple of days and the matter has been conveyed to the company,” senior railway officers told this reporter on Thursday.

The railways had paid a sum of Rs50 million to SNGPL in 1997 to lay its own gas supply system and install individual meter on each house in all its residential colonies in Lahore. The SNGPL carried out the exercise merely at the Burt, Signals Shops and Locoshed colonies while ignoring Washing Lines, Stadium, Dhobi Ghat, GT Road, Wireless and Mughalpura settlements that accommodate low-grade employees.

“Had the SNGPL implemented the plan, the late payment surcharge amount would not have increased to that extent and every occupant of house in 28 colonies would have been responsible for payment of his or her own bill,” said the officers who wished not to be named.

Furthermore, they said, the SNGPL pipes had been crossing the rail track at 350 places since the 1960s without paying even a single penny. The company conveyed to railways that they would make payment for gas pipe crossings with effect from Jan 1, 2003, while asking the PR to clear late payment surcharge dues with effect from Jan 1, 1995.

“The railways, if the crossing payment matter is put aside, owed Rs138 million and not Rs228.582 million in late payment surcharge as claimed by the SNGPL as a sum of Rs90 million had been paid to the company,” they maintained.

The SNGPL, they said, owed the railways millions of rupees as rent of gas pipeline passing through railways land or track. “Furthermore, we are not supplied with gas bills in time which resulted in late payments. To solve the problem, we deputed an official to collect the bills. Like other government departments, our procedure of payments is very cumbersome. We’ve to seek approval from the competent authority for every payment which consumes time and the SNGPL people know it. A cheque against the bill is deposited with the designated bank branch that sends it to the State Bank. The central bank clears the cheque after seeking confirmation from us. The bank process causes 37 per cent while our procedure 63 per cent delay in the payment method,” the officers argued.

A SNGPL spokesperson said the company had been exercising utmost restraint while disconnecting gas supply to railway colonies so that PR workers may not suffer. Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad came to the rescue of the low-grade employees of his department on May 23 when “we had sent teams to disconnect gas supply to four colonies in Lahore.” However, it would be impossible for the SNGPL to continue gas supply to railway colonies without receiving any payment. But the company again exercised restraint on Thursday and decided not to discontinue supply to PR colonies after receipt of a letter that the railway plans to approach the Ogra.

The army, the spokesperson said, had been the biggest consumer of the SNGPL. “But we didn’t spare even a single penny to army on account of late payment surcharge as the waiver could not be granted under the rules.”

The SNGPL claimed the railways owed Rs228.582 million in late payment surcharge to it and the former had, during the last three years or so, threatened many a time to disconnect gas supply to residential colonies of the latter that house families of around 70,000 employees in the Punjab and the NWFP.