ISLAMABAD: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) notified on Friday that the minimum fixed charges for bulk domestic consumers of natural gas had been increased by 345 per cent.

In a notification, Ogra said the minimum fixed charges for the bulk domestic consumers had been increased to Rs4,680 per month from Rs1,053, as notified on Oct 4.

Consumers falling in this category include orphanages, charitable organisations, residential consumers with bulk meters, government hospitals, clinics, maternity homes, government guesthouses and offices, armed forces’ messes, universities, colleges, schools and private educational institutions.

The notification issued on Friday created quite a stir among the consumers and media organisations. But Ogra clarified late in the night that the Oct 4 notification had erroneously reported old fixed rates (Rs1,053) instead of Rs3,600 per month as applied since December 2016.

“Minimum charges of bulk domestic consumers have been actually revised from Rs3,600.07 to Rs4,680.09 (up 10pc), in line with rate increased under this category. Rs1,053 in Oct 4, 2018 notification was erroneously written which has been rectified,” said an Ogra statement issued in the night.

It also clarified that the minimum charges for commercial consumers had been revised to Rs5,880 per MMBTU from Rs4,200 per month as applicable since December 2016, showing an increase of 40 per cent.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2018