MoCS, NOC fail to deliver on promise

KATHMANDU, FEB 11:

The Ministry of Commerce and Supplies (MoCS) has been claiming that it will introduce separate colour LPG cylinders for domestic and industrial use without resolving the major contentious issues, blamed bottling plants.

Bottling plants have principally agreed to introduce separate colour Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders, said general secretary at Nepal LP Gas Industries Association Kush Kumar Mally.

The ministry has claimed that it will implement the plan of separating the colour of LPG cylinders for domestic and industrial purposes from February at any cost.

A revision of the cost structure including transportation, overhead and administrative costs, along with an increment in the commission rate are basic conditions of bottling plants for introducing LPG cylinders with separate colours, according to him. “The government has not given a clear decision on the issues.”

The government has not revised the commission rate and other facilities being provided to bottling plants over the past four years, said Mally, adding that colour separation cannot be started unless the government addresses the demands put forward by the association.

Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has verified only 110,000 consumer cards so far, according to acting chairman at Nepal Gas Dealers’ Association Arjun Prasad Devkota. Cards of around 1,090,000 households are yet to be verified by NOC, according to NOC’s data.

Nepal Oil Corporation has estimated that around 1,200,000 consumers use LPG in the country at present, said spokesperson of the corporation Shiva Prasad Pudasaini.

The government has said that it will provide subsidy to domestic consumers after introducing separate colour cylinders for domestic and industrial use.

“But how the government will implement the decision since more than 90 per cent consumers are yet to be verified is unclear,” an official at Nepal Oil Corporation said.

Four bottling plants — Nobel, STC, Koshi and Bheri — have already started the colour separation process, said Arjun Prasad Devkota of Nepal Gas Dealers’ Association. “But a majority of the bottling plants are still reluctant about changing the colour of cylinders putting their own agendas in priority.”

NOC and MoCS officials themselves are seeking bribes regarding the colour separation process, a petroleum entrepreneur said. “NOC is trying to increase the existing commission rate being provided to dealers and LPG bottling plants in a hush-hush manner.”

Source: THT