141 petrol pumps in Punjab have expired leases

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

LAHORE: Widening the scope of probe into “malfeasances and malpractices in award of leases for petrol pump and CNG stations” it has been found that more than half of petrol pump leases have expired but they are running illegally.

The probe has found that 141 leases of petrol pumps from a total of 255 throughout Punjab have expired but most of the lessees continue their possession and business. Taking notice of the report published by The News/Jang on Dec 4, in which it was pointed out that bureaucracy slept on the orders for ages, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif recently constituted a high-powered four-member committee to determine as to why such an undue delay in the implementation of order took place. He asked the body comprising senior officers to fix the responsibility and “recommend further course of action”, according to a document issued by the CM Secretariat.

The body was also tasked to examine the matter of transparent leasing of sites for petrol pumps for the entire province in general and for CDGL and LDA in particular. Following the orders, the LDA swung into action and published advertisements for fresh leasing of 26 petrol pumps whose leases are said to have expired, according to government findings. The city government, Lahore, owns 14 sites with expired leases; another 10 sites are owned by TMAs of other cities. Similarly, the Department of Communication and Works owns 21 sites whose leasing has been overdue but most of the lessees are still functioning. Housing and Physical Planning owns four, Multan Development Authority five and Irrigation Department two sites with expired leases.

According to the findings, 114 leases throughout Punjab continue to be in order and functioning. But a majority of the lessees have been paying as much as Rs4,000 as monthly rent. In some cases, the rent is as low as Rs500 per year. But some of the lessees, who had acquired the leases through genuine process, are as paying as high as Rs121,000 per month and even more in some cases. There’s a huge discrepancy in lease money of various petrol pumps, which indicates bureaucracy’s parasitic culture and reeking corruption in the affairs of such leases. It has also come into the notice of the government that in several cases sites for petrol pumps have been sublet. Big companies which acquire sites usually sublet them to local operators.

In August, 2010, the government of Punjab accepted that the lessee should have the first right of refusal in a policy document notified by the Board of Revenue as the government had assured it to LHC in a writ petition to go by the book. But the government also established its right under the new policy that the auction of sites for petrol pumps and CNG stations would be transparent and open. The government took a principled position that such sites would not be allotted as political bribe in future, a big departure from the past legacy. Appreciating the transparent policy of the Punjab government for such leases, one of the leading oil companies, Shell, wrote to the Chief Minister, Punjab that Shell Pakistan Limited strictly adheres to the general business principles and that “Shell companies act in a socially responsible manner within the laws of the countries in which we operate in pursuit of our legitimate commercial objectives.” The company also clarified that it is neither linked to nor does it associate with the petrol pump dealers association in any manner whatsoever.