KARACHI, Sept 16: While Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) and the CNG Station Owners Association are engaged in a tussle over gas supply pressure problems, consumers are facing inordinate delays at CNG stations to fill their cars which sometimes take over 25 minutes.

Consumers are now making a beeline at the CNG filling stations for gas, but officials at the pumps mainly remain tight-lipped to reveal the actual reasons. The end-users are now bound to make a long cue for their turn to come.

CNG Station Owners Association Chairman Malik Khuda Bux attributed the delays to the low supply pressure from SSGC to the CNG stations.

He said that due to low pressure, the performance of CNG compressors had been affected, thus causing hardships to the customers at the pumps.

“We have been asking SSGC to provide 15 PSI (per square inch) of pressure to compressors at the CNG stations, but the company is providing only eight PSI,” he added.

Mr Bux said that the members were making frequent complaints to the association for getting low pressure of gas from SSGC at their CNG stations. He claimed that some pumps were getting only three PSI to five PSI.

He said that on their demands for an increase in PSI, the utility pointed out that they had to invest in infrastructure to bring the pressure to 15 PSI.

The association’s chief said that there was no problem of gas pressure in other provinces where the gas utility was providing 15 PSI to the CNG stations.

Meanwhile, SSGC on Friday ruled out low gas pressure at the CNG stations. A spokesman for the company said that some CNG stations were violating the agreement reached between SSGC and station owners by using excess gas against the authorized load, and as a result they were facing problems of low gas pressure.

The spokesman said SSGC had warned such station owners not to exceed the authorized load. “This is an illegal activity and causing low pressure in the area and domestic consumers are facing problems.”

An official at SSGC said that many domestic consumers made written complaints to the company for low pressure of gas, especially in those areas where CNG stations were operating. He said the company had no policy to undertake gas load-shedding.

Responding to the SSGC’s claim, Khuda Bux said that the gas utility should refer the cases of excess use of gas load by the CNG stations to the association. “On pointing out specific CNG stations we will cooperate with SSGC and will send a team to investigate the wrongdoings. We can also take action in this regard,” he said.

It is still not clear as to who is responsible (either the station owners or SSGC) for rendering the car owners to wait for 10-25 minutes at the pumps to fill their tanks.

Mr Bux said the demand for CNG had increased phenomenally in the last few years after petrol prices had crossed the Rs50 per litre mark.

CNG is still cheaper by over 55 per cent from the consumption point of view than petrol. The low price factor and huge saving are driving many consumers crazy.

The CNG stations, which used to cover up 300-400 cars and vehicles a day (16 hours duration), are now flooded with 600-800 cars a day. Because of low pressure, the capacity of a compressor falls and the dispenser takes time to fill CNG in cars, especially in peak hours.

As many as 10,000 cars and other vehicles (with CNG-fitted kits) are adding to the roads every month. This figure is enough to analyze the popularity of CNG. Pakistan is now considered as number one CNG-user country in the world.

Over 821,000 vehicles have been converted to CNG, while around 700 stations are in operation all over the country. Over 230 stations are under construction.

Pak Suzuki, a leading small car maker, is now rolling out 7,000 vehicles a month in which 50 per cent are CNG-fitted units. The share of CNG-fitted vehicles was 25 per cent in monthly production of 4,000-5,000 vehicles a year back.

Around 800-850 Cuore vehicles are produced every month in which the share of CNG-fitted units is 50 per cent. The share of CNG-fitted Dewan’s Hyundai Santro vehicles’ sales is also over 50 per cent out of its total monthly sales.