(29 November 2017)
President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), President AKIA, Senior Vice Chairman of the Businessmen Panel of FPCCI and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Wednesday said influential LPG mafia continues to plunder masses to generate unjustified profits which should be noticed.
Tens of millions of poor and middle-class people are dependent on LPG for cooking and heating which deserves to be saved from profiteers, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that every winter witnesses a hike in the price of fuel and its artificial shortage while the production cost remains the same.
He said that the residents of the twin cities paid up to Rs 200 per kg for LPG during the recently-concluded Faizabad dharna.
The government is not taking the issues of the LPG sector, substandard gas is being imported and smuggled from Iran without any hindrance while no action has been taken against the black sheep in this sector.
The veteran business leader said that government has recently slapped regulatory duty on the import of this vital fuel which provided an excuse to the marketing companies to boost prices.
Resultantly, the prices have increased by Rs 30 to 40 in different parts of the country while the regulator continues to conveniently ignore this exploitation of the masses. Government should accept all the demands of LPG Distributors Association and keep it on-board to keep prices stable, the former minister said.
LPG is being sold across the country without any obligation to display the rate list while the production of sub-standard cylinders is on the rise which must be stopped to avoid incidents, he demanded.
