Indraprastha Gas (IGL) won its fight against the government regulator, Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), as Delhi High Court ruled in favour of the former, raising questions on the regulator’s jurisdiction and role in the downstream gas market. The verdict in favour of the company only implies that the monopoly supplier of compressed natural gas in Delhi/NCR, could now decide on the market price of compressed (CNG) and piped natural gas (PNG).
Delhi High court via its order dated June 01, 2012, quashed Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB)’s April 9 order, where in the regulator had not only slashed the tariff rates of supplier by 63% with retrospective effect from April 1, 2008 but had also ordered IGL to refund extra money, charged by it, to customers since 2008. The regulatory board, vide its order, fixed IGL's pipeline network transportation tariff at Rs 38.58 per million metric British thermal unit (mmBtu) as against Rs 104.05 per mmBtu proposed by IGL.
IGL then approached the court over the constitutionality and legality of the powers of PNGRB to fix network tariffs, only to emerge victorious.
