ISLAMABAD, Sept 27: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority will open its regional office in Karachi to cope with increasing complaints of gas theft and hoarding of petroleum products.

An Ogra member told Dawn that the decision was taken on Sept 25 and the process of hiring office space and relocating staff from Islamabad to Karachi had started.

He said the need to have a regional office was felt because of a number of complaints by and against bulk gas consumers, resulting in higher system losses.

A large number of consumers during public hearings in Karachi had also complained against the SSGC for non-resolution of their disputes and hardships they faced in the absence of an Ogra office in the city.

After deregulation of oil pricing that led to price fixing on a weekly basis, Ogra has been receiving a lot of complaints from Balochistan and Sindh over hoarding of petroleum products.

Since Ogra did not have any presence in the two provinces, a large number of retailers resorted to black marketing of oil products in anticipation of increasing price. There were also reports of overcharging by petrol pumps.

He said Ogra had an elaborate price monitoring and enforcement division but in most of the cases its activities had been restricted to Rawalpindi and Islamabad or in certain cases to Lahore. It was, therefore, logistically impossible for Ogra to access every nook and corner of Sindh and Balochistan on a weekly basis to enforce pricing and standards.

He said initially about 30 personnel would start facilitating consumers of the two provinces in complaint registration and enable Ogra to conduct random raids for enforcement purposes.

Responding to a question, the member said the Karachi office would not involve substantial financial impact because after transfer of 30 officers and staff from the head office, Ogra would vacate substantial space resulting in saving given the fact that property rent in Karachi was lower than the federal capital.

Interestingly, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, which was established almost a decade before the creation of Ogra and is responsible for looking after the interests of much larger consumer base, is yet to have a regional office.