ISLAMABAD: High-end consumers will likely bear the brunt of an imminent hike in gas tariff as the caretaker government is mulling a proposal to protect low-end consumers from the price shock, said sources.
As the International Monetary Fund (IMF) linked an increase in gas tariff to allowing power consumers to pay bills in three-month installments, the caretaker government has intensified its endeavor to finalise the natural gas price increase proposals under which high-end consumers will pay the maximum.
Background discussions with senior officials of the Petroleum Division suggest there are 12 slabs for domestic consumers out of which the first four slabs of consumers utilising gas up to 0.25 HM3, 0.5 HM3, 0.6HM3 and 0.9hm3 every month may not face any increase.
However, the remaining eight domestic gas categories which are non-protected consumers will face the increase, but the high-end consumers who fall over the 4 hm3 slab may have to face a massive increase in their tariff up to Rs3,600-3,700 per MMBTU.
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Likewise, other high-end consumers who fall in 3HM cubic meters and 4HM3 will also face a massive increase. (HM3 means 100 cubic meters gas).
In this way, around 60% of consumers would face a hike of 200 to 400 per MMBTU, all of this, however, remains to be finalised.
The government is importing RLNG at Rs3,700 per MMBTU but selling it at Rs1,100 per MMBTU on average which is no longer justifiable.
Last time, the federal government notified the category-wise gas sale prices to increase from January 1, 2023.
