ISLAMABAD, May 30: The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) on Wednesday recommended up to Rs13.24 per litre (9.7 per cent) reduction in prices of petroleum products with effect from June 1.
A source said that officials of the ministry of petroleum and natural resources had received Ogra’s summary seeking price cut and a decision would be made on Thursday in consultation with the ministry of finance.
According to the summary seen by Dawn, Ogra has sought a reduction of Rs4.71 per litre in the price of petrol (motor spirit) and recommended that it be brought down to Rs98.65 per litre from the existing rate of Rs103.36.
The highest reduction of Rs13.24 per litre has been recommended in the price of High Octane Blending Component which has been proposed to be reduced to Rs122.57 from Rs135.81 per litre, a reduction of 9.7 per cent. The price of high speed diesel (HSD) has been proposed to be cut to Rs101.36 per litre from Rs107 per litre, a reduction of Rs5.64.
The authority has recommended Rs6.88 cut in the price of kerosene oil and proposed that it be fixed at Rs93.07 per litre instead of Rs99.95 per litre. The price of light diesel has been proposed to be cut by Rs5.84 per litre, to Rs91.59 from Rs97.43 per litre.
The percentage of reduction in price has been estimated at 4.6 per cent for petrol, 9.7 per cent for HOBC, 5.3 per cent for HSD, 6.9 per cent for kerosene and 6 per cent for light diesel oil.
Officials, however, said that in view of the shortfall in the country’s revenue target, the government may partially withhold the price reduction by increasing the size of petroleum levy on various products to earn windfall revenues in the last month of the financial year.
Last month too, Ogra had recommended up to 3.6 per cent reduction in petroleum prices but the government did not pass on this benefit to consumers except in the case of high speed diesel to earn additional revenue of about Rs1.3 billion during the month of May.
The government is currently charging Rs8.86 per litre petroleum levy on petrol, Rs11.84 per litre on HOBC, Rs5.15 per litre on kerosene, Rs3 per litre on LDO and Rs4.20 per litre on HSD.
The government also collects 16 per cent general sales tax on all the products, that is, between Rs14 and Rs17.