ISLAMABAD, July 2: CNG consumers are believed to have paid a whopping Rs62.6 million in a day because of the government’s erroneous announcement of Rs13 per kg increase in its price before revising it to Rs5.58 per kg.

If the tanks of one-third of a total of 1.7 million gas-run vehicles in the country were filled with a maximum capacity of 8.5kg, the gas station owners made a windfall profit of Rs62.6 million.

According to the Economic Survey of 2007-8, there are 2,068 CNG (compressed natural gas) stations and approximately 1.7 million vehicles using the fuel.

On Monday night, the government announced a hefty 31 per cent increase in gas tariff for all categories of consumers, pushing the retail price of CNG to over Rs52 a kg — just a day after raising the petrol and diesel prices by at least 10 per cent.

But realising the mistake 20 hours later, the government issued a clarification on Tuesday evening claiming that the ‘actual/intended’ increase was Rs5.58 per kg.

However, the sale of CNG continued at Rs52 per kg.

To compensate the consumers for the error, the CNG station owners have decided to sell the gas at the old rate of Rs38.8 for two days until they come up with a new sale price. This means that the revised increase of Rs5.58 is not acceptable to them.

Blaming the government for the confusion, the All Pakistan CNG Association expressed the apprehension that two more similar hikes could end the difference between the prices of diesel and natural gas. The government’s plan of importing CNG buses would also go down the drain, it said.

Addressing a press conference, the association’s chairman Sanaullah Rehman, spokesperson Malik Tariq Kandan and vice-chairman Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha demanded accountability of those responsible for the miscalculation.

They alleged that the government was violating the CNG Rules of 1992 which suggested that the gas station owners would determine the sale price.

They said such a policy would discourage the use of environment-friendly CNG and encourage the use of diesel cars.

They said the use of gas in vehicles substituted about 220 million litres of oil per month, reducing the import bill.

They said the government had already withdrawn incentives provided to the CNG industry, making its tariff higher than the commercial tariff, and more levies would render the industry unviable.

The high price of gas fuel would also result in a loss of Rs61 billion public investment made on vehicular conversions, they said.

Meanwhile, the recent increase in the prices of petroleum products and gas was challenged in the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The petitioners pleaded that the increase in the prices through notifications was illegal because Article 77 of the Constitution prohibited levying taxes without presentation of a money bill in parliament.