The government on Sunday notified a 50 per cent increase in fixed gas charges for domestic consumers, according to a notification from the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra).
On Friday, the federal cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approved the hike in fixed gas charges for all consumers from July 1. The ECC decided to increase fixed charges by 50pc for domestic consumers and shift the partial burden to bulk, power sector and industrial consumers.
According to the Ogra notification, seen by Dawn.com, fixed charges for domestic consumers in the Protected category have risen to Rs600 from Rs400, while those in the non-protected category have to pay Rs1,500 as opposed to the previous charge of Rs1,000.
For non-protected consumers exceeding consumption of 1.5 cubic hectometres (hm³), the price has risen to Rs3,000 from Rs2,000.
Though the fixed charges have been increased, the price of gas itself has not risen, according to the notification. The sale prices for both Protected and Non-protected consumers remain the same. Additionally, gas prices for tandoors, commercial units, compressed natural gas and ice factories remain unchanged.
However, gas prices for general industries, power stations and independent power producers have risen.
Last month, Ogra determined about 6.6pc (Rs117 per unit) increase in prescribed natural gas prices to meet about Rs890 billion revenue requirement of the two gas companies during 2025-26.
In a determination sent to the federal government, Ogra worked out the average revenue requirement for Karachi-based Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd (SSGCL) at Rs354bn for the next fiscal year and determined its prescribed price at Rs1,659 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu) or about Rs104 per unit reduction from Rs1,762 per mmBtu in FY25.
