It appears that the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has stopped following the directives issued to it by the concerned ministry. The Ministry of Supplies had sent a letter to the NOC stating that besides the import and distribution of petroleum products and aviation fuel, private parties could now import and distribute cooking gas (LPG). The government, it said, would fix the basic price and the private firms could price their product only 5 percent above or below the price fixed by the government. However, last week, the managing committee of the NOC decided that it too would enter the LPG market and start distributing cooking gas.

It has long been rumoured that NOC officials receive hefty commissions from owners of gas-run vehicles and big hotels, and that large commissions are also collected while distributing quotas to the different gas refuelling companies. The NOC is now constructing its own refuelling stations and it is expected that NOC officials will get a lot of commissions from contractors who are building these refuelling stations. According to sources, the NOC is building storage tanks and refuelling plants in Janakpur and Dang. In Janakpur, the NOC is going to take over land from the Tobacco Development Authority and in Dang it has called for tenders from people wanting to sell their land.

According to the acting director of the NOC, Madan Raj Sharma, the corporation is going to provide LPG in different cylinders to big hotels and gas vehicles. For domestic users, it will continue to use the same cylinders that are currently in use. If the NOC gets into the business of supplying LPG, then the 14 companies that are currently in the market are all going to close down. It has been rumoured that these 14 companies are not going to supply gas in the future and are planning to go on strike. If this happens consumers will suffer again.