Pakistan on Saturday withdrew a ban on the use of CNG in vehicles with engine capacity over 1,000 cc, less than a week after its caretaker prime minister issued the directive, an oil ministry official said Monday.
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources and The Ministry of Law and Justice told the Prime Minister's secretariat that the ban was not workable and requires legislation from the parliament before implementation, he added.
Caretaker Prime Minister Hazar Khan Khoso on May 22 approved the ban, which stated that CNG pump stations selling the gas to above 1,000 cc vehicles will have to pay a fine of Rupees 50,000 ($508), the official said.
The ban was questioned by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority, which sought clarification from the oil minister on whether the decision taken by the caretaker prime minister had the mandatory approval of the federal cabinet or Economic Coordination Committee as required by OGRA's regulations, he explained.
After the objections raised by OGRA, the oil ministry put the caretaker prime minister's directive on hold till May 25 and sought opinion on the matter from the law ministry, which said that prima facie the executive order appeared to be in violation of the fundamental rights of citizens under which a specific section of society could not be discriminated against, the oil ministry official said.
The law ministry added that the imposition of a fine or penalty on an individual or a section of society could be valid only if legislation had been passed by the parliament or a presidential ordinance was issued for a specific period. This was not the case in the CNG matter, he said.
All Pakistan CNG Association Chairman Ghiyas Abdullah Paracha said the ban on using CNG in vehicles above 1,000 cc was unjustifiable and the move discourages the use of CNG.
CNG is an important auto fuel in Pakistan with nearly 70% of vehicles, including public buses, using it. CNG consumption stands at 450,000 Mcf/d, accounting for 11% of the country's natural gas production.
Since the start of summer in April, however, CNG pumps were shut between three and five days a week, with gas supplied to CNG pumps diverted to power plants to reduce load shedding. Since the beginning of May, the closure of CNG pumps in the province of Punjab has been for four or five days while in Sindh province the closure has been for three days.
In the summer of 2012, the closure was limited to just one or two days.
