Common people get 4 billion 68 billion annual exemption and commercial-industrial sector 3 billion 12 billion, but businessmen get double benefit by withdrawing VAT.
It has been found that industrialists are complicit in the subsidies and discounts given to the general public on LP gas for cooking. Nepal Oil Corporation spends 7.8 billion annually to provide concessions to the general public. The businessmen are getting double benefits by taking VAT refund along with the subsidy they get from the corporation. Due to this, they get 13% cheaper gas than the general public.
In fact, injustice has been done to the common people. The government should give discount subsidies to consumers as compared to businessmen. But when everything is in the same package, the businessmen have taken double benefit by withdrawing the 13 percent VAT discount amount," said Shiv Prasad Ghimire, President of Nepal LP Gas Industry Association, "The discount subsidy was not utilized according to the government's purpose. Only big businessmen benefited.' According to the details of
corporation, the purchase price of one cylinder of gas is 21 hundred and 7 rupees. The consumer price of gas per cylinder is set at Rs. 1910. The corporation has a loss of Rs 197 per cylinder. The corporation claims that when selling at this price, 16 lakh 44 thousand 681 gas cylinders are sold in 15 days, there is a loss of 320 million 41 lakh rupees. Losses from gas are compensated by petrol, diesel, kerosene and jet fuel.
'The purpose for which the exemption was given to the general public has not been done according to that. Putting everyone in the same basket and giving discounts has only wasted government funds," said Madhav Timalsina, president of the Consumer Rights Research Forum. Therefore, the dual facility of businessmen should be canceled immediately. According to the certification of gas cylinders conducted by the
corporation in 2078, there are 14.4 million cylinders across the country. Recently the number of cylinders has been increased. Although there is no official data, it is estimated that around 3.3 million cylinders are consumed monthly. About 60 percent of that is consumed by general public and 40 percent for commercial purposes. At the rate of 197 rupees per cylinder, monthly expenditure is 65 crore 1 lakh rupees. In this way, 7 billion 800 million 12 lakh rupees go to subsidies in a year.
In terms of 60 percent consumption, 4 billion 687 million rupees are spent for the general public and 3.12 billion 6 million rupees for industrial and commercial purposes. But businesses get an additional 13 percent VAT refund. This has given them a double benefit. "It would have been possible to make a different cylinder for commercial or household purposes and keep a profit on the pearl price on the cylinders sold for commercial purposes," said Ghimire, president of the association, "but now everything is a shambles." Chandika Prasad Bhatt, executive director of the corporation, said that a procedure is being prepared to give discount subsidy only to the general public. He said that monthly Product Delivery Order (PDO) of 49 thousand 500 tons is issued. "According to this, the corporation will save about 7 billion if only the general public is given a discount," he said, "Procedure 2082 related to subsidizing LP gas used for household purposes is being prepared. We will implement it soon.
14.2 kg cylinder subsidy only.
It is mentioned that in the procedure for subsidizing LP gas used for domestic purposes, 2082, only cylinders of 14.2 kg capacity will be subsidized. Cylinders of other capacities are automatically considered to be industrial commercial purposes, it is stated in the procedure.
One member of a family will get subsidy in two cylinders per year based on citizenship certificate. Must be registered in the system to get grant. It is mentioned in the procedure that subsidy can be claimed in another cylinder only after at least 30 days of claiming subsidy in one cylinder. For the grant, the form must be filled in the software format created by the corporation. The person who wants to claim the subsidy should only buy from the seller appointed by the relevant industry," the procedure says, "the payment will be made to the account of the 'A' class commercial bank in the name of the person who buys the gas.'
It is mentioned in the procedure that automatic price will be applied to gas too. The committee formed under the coordination of Kumar Dahal, director general of the department of commercial supply and consumer protection and member of the board of directors of the corporation, has approved the procedure. Now it is said that it will be decided and implemented by the board of directors of the corporation.
'Corporation has a loss from gas. "Businessmen are taking advantage of the categories that should be exempted," Dahal said. Subsidy is returned to common people on the basis of national identity card. There is no exemption for commercial purposes. The executive director of the corporation, Bhatt, said that there has already been a discussion about the procedure. "We will finalize it in a month and test it, then go into full implementation," said Bhatt.
