LPG bottlers seek more facilities

HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICE

KATHMANDU: A committee formed by the government to study the current commission structure of LPG bottling plants is in a dilemma due to the mounting pressure from bottlers to increase commission and other profits.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) bottling plants have started putting pressure on the government to increase the existing commission rate and other facilities being provided, a member of the committee said.

The nexus between bottling plants, top bureaucrats and politicians has created pressure on the committee to raise the existing commission rate, the source added.

Preliminary calculation has shown that the committee will recommend the government to raise the existing commission rate under some headings, said head of the committee and under secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies Nutaraj Pokharel. However, he did not disclose the details of the revision. The committee will publish the report soon, he said.

Earlier, the committee had claimed that bottling plants have been receiving expenses from the government to distribute salaries to employees, change the valve of LPG cylinders, and pay the interest of the loan taken when setting up the plant. “All the facilities being provided to bottling plants are irrational and the committee will try to lower it,” a member of the committee said.

Bottling plants have been

receiving expenses even to provide bonus to their employees and for other administrative costs, the member said.

The government had formed the committee following a strike called by LP Gas Association Nepal in the beginning of August to put pressure on the government to fulfill their 16-point demand. The government and the association had agreed to form the committee to study whether the government should raise the commission rate along with transportation cost.

Nepal Oil Corporation has been providing Rs 105.81 for transportation cost, Rs 1.39 for technical loss, Rs 56 as dealer commission, and Rs 50 as insurance cost and technical loss on a cylinder of cooking gas.