Several users have been circulating an alleged Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) gas supply schedule on various WhatsApp groups since Monday. However, SSGC has not issued any such notification and the viral image is fake.
how it started
On Friday, iVerify Pakistan received a hotline alert requesting authentication of a purported gas supply schedule widely circulated in WhatsApp groups in Karachi.
The person who sent the notice said he had received an Urdu image forwarded on WhatsApp and shared a copy with iVerify Pakistan.
The text on the image read: “According to Sui Gas Company’s schedule, gas would be available from 5:30 am to 8:30 am, 11:30 am to 1:30 pm and 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm.”
In addition, he stated that gas supply would remain limited or completely suspended outside of these hours.
The viral image did not explicitly say that the alleged schedule was issued by the SSGC. He also did not mention that the schedule applied only to Karachi.
It should be noted that SSGC is the gas company responsible for the supply of natural gas in Sindh and Balochistan. Therefore, the alleged schedule caused concern among the residents of Karachi.
Journalist Shahid Husain also shared the same image on
The same claim was also shared on YouTube.
Methodology
A fact check was initiated to ascertain the veracity of the claim due to widespread public concern over the timing of gas supply in Karachi.
A keyword search was conducted to see if any major media outlets reported on the claim, but returned no results.
Furthermore, SSGC did not share any such notification or update on its official website and social media handles like Facebook and instagram.
iVerify Pakistan contacted Salman Ahmed Siddiqui, official spokesperson of the SSGC, for comment, who called the claim “false”.
“It is an absolutely false publication as it does not mention Sui Southern; that is why we have not responded,” he said.
He further added that almost more than 30 such fake posts were being circulated on social media accounts for likes and comments.
“If there is any such notification, we also publish it on our website and share it with print and electronic media.”
Fact Check Status: False
The claim that a viral image shows a new SSGC gas supply schedule is false.
SSGC has not released any such schedule.
This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan, a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.
