PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday issued notices to federal government and Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) to seek their response to a plea challenging enhancement of meter rent from Rs40 to Rs500 per month for the natural gas consumers.

A bench consisting of Justice Abdul Shakoor and Justice Syed Arshad Ali took up for preliminary hearing a petition jointly field by 15 residents of Peshawar including Malik Sahil Ilahi and others, who challenged a notification of Ogra issued on February 15, 2023, stating that through it the meter rent of Rs40 had been changed to fixed charges of Rs500 per month.

The petitioners have requested the court to declare the impugned notification as null and void and to retain Rs40 only as meter rent for the natural gas consumers. They have also sought interim relief, requesting the court to suspend operation of the impugned notification till final disposal of the petition.

The bench directed that the secretary of ministry of petroleum and natural resources and Ogra should file their replies to the petition. Next date of hearing will be fixed later.

15 residents of Peshawar have moved court against the Ogra order

Advocate Syed Murtaza Zahid Gilani appeared for the petitioners and stated that before the publication of the impugned notification, there was Rs40 only fixed as meter rent and it did not carry additional words of “fixed charges.”

He said that with sudden jump to Rs500 per month as meter rent and in addition with the fixation of fixed charges, Ogra committed gross invasion on public interest, which was transgression of laws, fundamental constitutional rights and violation of the principle of justice.

The counsel said that no appropriate authority or forum was available for approach and when such circumstances prevailed then ultimately petitioners had no other remedy but to approach the high court under Article 199 of Constitution.

He said that an illegality was committed by respondents including Ogra because no mechanism was anywhere available in laws and rules, which regulated the conduct of the authority, to act in such like arbitrary and damaging to public interest manner with many times enhancement of fixed amount of Rs40 per month of the meter rent.

The counsel said that no procedure was provided in any law to enhance such per month meter rent up to alarming figure of Rs500 and no evaluation procedure was laid down by any law.

He contended that the meter rent charges had nothing to do with the matter of “fixed charges”, therefore both the terms could not be adjoined or considered with each other.

He stated that the court may take notice of the ground realities that a domestic consumer paring meter rent for many years had already paid much more than the price of the meter itself.

He said that the arbitrary enhancement of the meter rent was a classical example of exploitation of public interest and it certainly needed a perfect judicial review.

The respondents in the petition are federal government through secretary oil and gas, secretary of Ogra, director finance of Ogra, managing director of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines and its manager Peshawar.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2023