KATHMANDU, March 13: National Consumers Forum (NCF) has condemned the decision to raise price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
Submitting a memorandum to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Sunday, the body demanded that the government rollback the decision at the earliest. “The decision has hit consumers hard as the price of LPG has been increased twice in the past one and half months, citing price hike in the international market. As NOC has been logging profit in recent months, the decision to increase price cannot be justified,” the memorandum reads.
The forum has argued that the intention behind increasing price of LPG is to fleece consumers.
Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) increased the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by Rs 25 per cylinder on Friday. LPG is being retailed at Rs 1,375 per cylinder.
Sita Ram Pokharel, the spokesperson for NOC, said that the price of LPG was increased because of the rise in its price in the international market. "We had to increase price of LPG after our sole supplier -- Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) -- increased price of the popular cooking fuel," he said, adding: "NOC will suffer loss of Rs 291.50 per cylinder even after the fresh adjustment in price."
As per the new rates forwarded by IOC, NOC would have suffered loss of Rs 313.51 per cylinder, according to Pokharel.
NOC, however, had kept the price of diesel, petrol and kerosene unchanged.
The NOC had earlier increased the price of LPG by Rs 25 per cylinder in February, citing price hike in the international market.
NOC is logging profits in sale of petrol, kerosene and aviation turbine fuel, while it is suffering loss in diesel and LP gas, according to Pokharel.
According to NOC, the corporation has been selling petrol at a profit of Rs 1.23 per liter in March, while it has been facing loss of Rs 4.07 per liter in diesel. NOC has claimed that it will suffer a loss of Rs 414.4 million in March.
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