ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet has approved amendments in Pakistan oil (refining, blending, and transportation, storage and marketing) rules, 2016 on the recommendations of Cabinet Committee for Legislative Cases (CCLC), well-informed sources told Business Recorder.
Giving details, sources said, CCLC was informed that in pursuance of Section 41(1) of the OGRA Ordinance, 2002, the Pakistan Oil (Refining, Blending, Transportation, Storage and Marketing) Rules were notified in 2016 after approval from the Council of Common Interests (CCI). However, before OGRA could initiate their implementation, the Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) challenged them in Islamabad High Court (IHC) and got a stay order.
In order to address the grievances of the OCAC / Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) pertaining to the rules, OGRA engaged OCAC / OMCs in detailed deliberations to arrive at an amicable solution. OCAC/OMCs requested certain amendments and after examining them in detail, OGRA agreed to some of them. Accordingly, a notification was drafted, depicting the proposed amendments, agreed to by both OCAC/OMCs and OGRA.
Based on the agreed draft, which was filed in the court, the writ petition was dismissed as withdrawn with the orders of the court on June 07, 2017. Law and Justice Division had vetted the final draft of amendments in the Pakistan Oil (Refining, Blending, Transportation, Storage and Marketing Rules) 2016. During the course of discussion in the CCLC, it was revealed that earlier the Law and Justice Division had opined that OGRA is fully competent to make amendments in the rules with the approval of the Federal Government which neither requires any comments from the provincial Governments nor can be referred to CCI for its approval.
In terms of rule 16 of the Rules of Business, 1973 and in accordance with the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s judgment reported as PLD 2016 SC 808, the summary was submitted for approval of the Cabinet Committee for Disposal of Legislative Cases for amendments in the Pakistan Oil (Refining, Blending Transportation, Storage and Marketing) Rules, 2016.
After a detailed discussion, the CCLC approved the following amendments in Pakistan Oil (Refining, Blending Transportation, Storage and Marketing) Rules, 2016: (i)
in rule 2(1)(xxvii) a Proviso may be inserted in place of words “excluding retail outlets and bulk consumer facilities”; (ii) in rule 30(1)(b), the term “under any law for the time being in force” may be added at the end; (iii) in rule 35(3), the license extension tenure i.e. thirty years, may be reconsidered, and the same may be re-examined in all relevant rules such as rules 36, 45, 50, 51 etc; (iv) in rule 38, the term “consonance of” may be submitted with “consonance with”; (v) in rule 39(2), the term “local authorities” may be defined, moreover, a mechanism to deal with a scenario after the sealing of a retail outlet may be evolved in accordance with the substantive Act. In case any other rules already cover this, reference of those rules may be mentioned. If regulation of retail outlets is not within the purview of OGRA, the proposed sealing provision may then be omitted. OGRA may, if needed, send a reference to Law & Justice Division on the subject; (vi) in rule 45(1)(i), the word “and” may be inserted before omitting sub-section (ii) of the rule ibid; (vii) in rule 53(vii), the term “all contracts” may be substituted with “all or any contract”. Moreover, it may be revisited with reference to “associated companies” and “sub-contracting”; (viii) in rule 53(xiv), the term “relevant authority” may be in accordance with the substantive law; (ix) in schedule-II to the Rules, proportionate fee structure has been replaced with flat fee structure, which may impose a heavy penalty on smaller firms, and a lighter one on bigger ones. This may be re-examined but it falls within the purview of OGRA; and (x) rule-making procedure may be strictly followed in the light of provisions of the OGRA Ordinance, 2002 (section 41) read with Section 23 of the General Clauses Act, 1897.—MUSHTAQ GHUMMAN
