LPG commission hike sought

KATHMANDU, MAY 25:

Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) — popularly known as cooking gas — bottlers have asked the government to hike their commission rate to ensure smooth supply. Nepal LP Gas Industry Association submitted its proposal regarding the commission rate hike to the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies today.

Our association has asked for a hike in bottling commission from Rs 28 per cylinder to Rs 57.92, said president of the association Shiva Prasad Ghimire.

“The government must accept our demand as soon as possible,” Ghimire said, adding that failure to hike the commission will disturb smooth supply.

The total cost of bottling plants has increased to the current commission level, so commission hike is a must, said general secretary of the association Kush Prasad Mali. “Our proposal is rational and the government must support it,” he said. “Timely commission hike is a right of the bottlers.” According to Mali, delay in commission hike will affect LPG supply. We want the government to hike the commission within three days, he added.

The country has a monthly demand of about 16,000 metric tonnes of cooking gas. About 1.1 million families have been using LPG

for cooking and heating purposes and there are more than four million cylinders in the market.

The government has decided to enforce dual colour — red and blue — cylinders from mid-June — beginning of Ashad. The red colour cylinder has been proposed for domestic use and blue for commercial purposes.

However, there is no change in weight in both the cooking gas cylinders. Likewise, the association and its affiliated member bottlers have not yet changed the colour of the LPG cylinders to blue. Currently, all the cylinders are red.

The government has directed Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) not to issue Purchase Delivery Order to bottlers who do not adopt the dual colour system from mid-June.

It is the fourth time that the government has tried to implement its diktat to provide subsidy to general consumers. Each time the government has talked about implementing the provision, bottlers have bargained with the government.

Bottlers have repeatedly ignored the government’s proposal to change the colour of LPG cylinders for commercial use and have resorted to bargaining at the cost of public expenses, either by disturbing the supply or by not distributing consumer cards effectively.

According to NOC, of the 958,671 consumers, only 318,994 have received the cards till mid-May. There are about 502,671 LPG consumers in Kathmandu valley and 454,000 outside the valley. The government has advised NOC to expedite the card distribution process.

Source: THT