The All Pakistan Compressed Natural Gas Association (APCNGA) has demanded the federal government to withdraw a hike in sales tax on gas. Former Chairman APCNGA Ghiyas Paracha appealed to the government on Saturday to withdraw the hike in sales tax rate recently announced in the federal budget for the fiscal year 2021-22 that begins on July 1. “The government is giving relief and concessions to large industries,” he said, calling on it to provide relief to the CNG sector as well. He further demanded that the government allow private firms to import gas in order to keep the CNG sector alive. Paracha said that the government should facilitate the CNG sector to import LNG for personal consumption and import of only 50 mmbtu will fetch a revenue of Rs100 billion for the government. He said that Sui companies no longer enjoy monopoly in this era of deregulation and that the government should ensure implementation of gas distribution policies so that the private sector can work with peace of mind and ensure import of private gas. The state-owned companies never listen to the government and the whole burden is shifted on the CNG sector and general industry in case of any problem like shortage of local or imported gas or any technical fault, he added. Paracha said that the supply of gas has been suspended for the CNG stations in the province of Sindh despite the fact that this sector is consuming a small slice of the gas while the same may be repeated in Punjab. The axe will always fall on the CNG sector and the general industry as soon as winter sets in, he said, adding, “The government should stop step-motherly attitude with the troubled sector; otherwise, we will launch a countrywide protest.”