Payments Halted.

Back in 2020, the Supreme Court passed a judgement that allowed the government to recover Rs.453 billion through the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC). The directive forced companies to pass the cost onto their consumers but petitions filed in the Sindh and Punjab High Court have granted petitions that stopped this payment on various grounds. Now, the future of gas pipeline development hangs in the balance.

According to the thousands of petitions filed, fertiliser manufacturers-responsible for a majority of the outflow of cash for the GIDC on account of being a major industrial gas consumer-have claimed that they had a fixed gas contract which accounted for all taxes, fees and charges, whether local or federal. They further claimed that on account of not passing the cost onto their consumers, there is no responsibility to deposit the cess. All these grievances were legitimised after lower courts granted the petitions, going against the orders of the SC, and certain clarifications must be given by the government.

The GIDC was implemented on the provision that the government would take the necessary steps to commence...