ISLAMABAD, July 5: The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) has established five consumer services centre in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

This was stated by the general manager of SNGPL, Islamabad Region, M. Ismail Paracha, here on Friday.

He told this agency that these consumer service centres were responsible to take care of all sorts of complaints including emergencies and billing.

“We are also receiving applications for new gas connections, issuing demand notes and preparing advance gas bills as required by the consumers under one roof at the consumer services centres,” he added.

He said a cash point had also been established where the consumers could pay their gas bills without standing in long queues outside banks.

“We are making more improvements in consumer services centres to minimize the response time,” the general manager added.

Mr Paracha said the staff, at the counters, would attend to all sorts of complaints in the shortest possible time.

About the improvement made in the region, he said: “There is a telephone number, 119, available for our valued consumers to register their complaints at one centralized complaint centre.”

“We have also introduced advance payment plans and urgent gas connection schemes, which are being appreciated by the consumers who want to get a connection within 30 days,” he added.

The general manager said during the last financial year, the SNGPL provided 19,000 domestic, 450 commercial and 21 industrial gas connections.

“We have expanded our gas network by laying 174 kilometres of main line, with the policy to provide cheap and environment- friendly fuel to every nook and corner of the region,” he added.

The company had also commissioned 25 CNG stations during the last financial year to provide compressed natural gas to the public, he said.

“The company is in the process of introducing on-line processing of new connections by computerizing the entire process from receipt of a new application to the issuance of first gas bill to its consumers, which will ensure that all connections are processed on merit and that the bills are sent to the consumers as soon as a new metre has been installed,” the SNGPL general manager said.

Mr Paracha observed that there had been a positive change in operational efficiencies and customer services of the company.

“The line losses have been remarkably reduced and quality control of the jobs strengthened,” he remarked. The SNGPL general manager said the company’s consumers could contact him for the redressal of their complaints. “Suggestions from the consumers are always welcomed,” he added.—APP