Ban on new gas connections to be lifted soon

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Noor Alam Khan on Wednesday directed the gas companies to immediately withdraw the ban on new gas connections across the country, ARY News reported.

The PAC meeting was chaired by MNA Noor Alam Khan in which he directed the gas companies to immediately lift the ban on new gas connections and start the installation of gas meters to cope with gas theft across the country.

Noor Alam Khan ordered the gas companies to take legal action against the housing schemes involved in gas theft.

In reply to the chairman PAC’s concerns, Secretary Petroleum stated that the stakeholders were facing issues due to the governance and management. He assured the PAC chairman that the gas companies will control the illegal gas connection and gas theft by December 2023.

The PAC chairman also directed that the ban on new sites of petrol pumps in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Hazara and Peshawar should be lifted.

“There is no ban on pump sites in Punjab and Sindh, so why in other provinces?” Khan questioned Chairman OGRA.

Noor Alam stated that Pakistan State Oil (PSO) – which is a government entity – should be promoted across the country, adding that the move will discourage the ‘defaulting’ private companies.