The Hindu Business Line : Petroleum and natural gas: A regulator without resources

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) may be overseeing one of the more affluent industries, but the Board itself is functioning like a pauper. The Board, which was constituted in June and put out its first draft regulation on city gas distribution last week, functions practically without any resources or infrastructure.

The four members of the Board have no computers; they did not have a telephone till a couple of weeks ago and function with minimal support staff borrowed from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

What is more, they operate out of the premises of Indian Oil Corporation, an entity they are supposed to regulate. If you think this is a clash of interests, wait. The phones the members now have are courtesy Indian Oil as well!

The Government has not sanctioned any funds to the regulator though it has ensured that the salaries of the Chairman, Mr L. Mansingh, and the four members are paid without fail. According to a member, they use their personal laptops for official work and till the other day were also using their personal mobile phones for official calls.

The Board has four officers on deputation from the PPAC who help the members with the regulatory work.

Though the Board asked the Government to sanction 110 posts on a permanent basis, the latter has sanctioned just 44 out of whom only 11 are officers, says the member.

All this is despite the fact that the PNGRB will take away half the regulatory work from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The Government is reportedly saying that it has no surplus staff to spare to the Board. Interestingly, the Government has not notified any petroleum product under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act which means that the Board cannot take up their regulation.

In effect, though the regulatory Board has been created and is functional, it is toothless in the absence of notification of the products that it can regulate.

The city gas distribution draft regulations were possible because the Act permits the Board to regulate the sector and there is no notification necessary from the Government.

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