143 percent increase in gas tariff to affect only 5pc consumers: Ghulam Sarwar

ISLAMABAD: Petroleum Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan on Monday said that the decision to increase gas tariff by 143 per cent will affect only five per cent consumers.Talking to journalists, Ghulam Sarwar said that the category of consumers who used more than 400 cubic metres of gas per month will be slapped with 143pc higher tariffs.He clarified that 85 percent consumers would experience 10 per cent increase in gas prices. The minister said that gas companies were facing 157 billion deficit and added that the government was compelled to increase gas tariff.Ghulam Sarwar said that they were taking strict measures to stop gas theft in the country.Earlier, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), on October 5, had notified an increase in gas tariff up to 143 percent, effective from September 27.According to the notification, gas price for CNG sector had been increased by 40 percent. For power generation companies, the gas price had been hiked by 57 percent, while for the rest of the industries it went up by 40 per cent.For fertiliser companies, gas prices had been increased by 40 to 50 percent. The per-unit price for consumers with 200 MMBTU use a month had been increased by 20 percent. The tariff had been increased by 25 percent on use of 300 MMBTU a month.