KARACHI: President FPCCI Mian Nasser Hyatt Maggo has expressed concerns over unfair practices and treatment of smaller Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs).
In a statement, the FPCCI President added that the smooth functioning of OMCs is indispensable for any economy and continuing investments in mid-stream and downstream sectors are as eminent.
The FPCCI President expressed his dissatisfaction over the fact that investigations and enquiries are still continuing over June 2020 petrol crisis and are keeping OMCs unnecessarily occupied with regulatory tangles.
He added that if any wrongdoing was established on the basis of inquiry report, the culprits should have been punished by now; instead of continuing with the inquiry incessantly.
Mr Maggo said that Pakistan’s mid-stream and downstream sectors need huge investments in order to increase refinery capacities and modernize their end-products to minimize carbon emissions.
He added that major part of these investments will come as FDI coupled with technology transfer and the harassment of OMCs are proving to be detrimental already.
He said that imposing fines and blocking NOCs for retail outlets are creating discouraging environment for OMCs and FPCCI has been approached by their representatives to make their voices heard.
He also raised the issue of profit margins for OMCs and questioned that when ECC decided back in 2014 that profit margins of OMCs will be based on Consumer Price Index (CPI), why profit margins are not revised in a timely fashion. This practice will also prove discouraging to new investors in the industry, he added.
He added that FPCCI is ever-ready to help resolve issues between OMCs and the government bodies through dialogue and discussion. He emphasized that it is in the larger national interest to encourage investments into oil industry and investors should be treated with dignity.
