The parliament’s Environment and Energy Committee discussed on July 4 reallocating fines collected by the Natural Gas Regulatory Authority to avoid a conflict of interest, Al Bawaba reported.

Article 10, clause six of the Gas Market Law grants the Natural Gas Regulatory Authority with powers to both issue fines and to retain them as part of its own budget.

However, the committee voiced concerns that allowing the authority to use fines to partly fund its budget would generate a conflict of interest.

The committee suggested that any fines collected will instead be allocated to the national budget.

Should the parliament vote in favor of the amendments, the authority will have six sources of funding. These include licensing fees, a share of the national budget, donations and consultancy fees.