LAHORE: The marketing companies continue to fleece the consumers by selling the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) at record high Rs220 a kilo.

A delegation of the marketing companies had assured Federal Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi the other day that the prices would be brought down but the gas was sold for Rs230 per kilo in some areas of Lahore on Thursday, said LPG Distributors Association chairman Irfan Khokhar.

Mr Khokhar alleged that the marketing companies were earning Rs100 million profit daily by black-marketing the LPG.

“The per kilo price of local producer is Rs60 while that of imported Rs75. With 17pc tax, the LPG costs Rs72 a kilo and after addition of Rs26 per kilo profit of both marketing and distribution companies, it should be sold for Rs95 a kilo.

“For the fourth time in a week, the marketing companies have increased the price of the LPG on the pretext of increase in demand because of low temperature,” he said.

Neither the public-sector producers increased per kilo price nor the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) issued any notification in this regard.

He said the distributors would suspend the LPG supply all over the country on Dec 28 if Ogra remained indifferent towards overcharging by the marketing companies.

Meanwhile, LPG Association of Pakistan Chairman Farooq Iftikhar said efforts by the members of the association were under way to overcome the shortage of the gas that resulted in surge in its prices “as soon as possible”.

“There is a crucial demand-supply gap of the LPG due to cold weather and Sui gas loadshedding.” He said some members of the association were importing the LPG which would be available to the consumers within this week. He said the marketing companies had no role in the recent increase in LPG prices and the reduced prices would soon be advertised.

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2014