Several users have been circulating an alleged Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) gas supply plan across 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 an alert from the public tipline seeking authentication of an alleged gas supply plan that was widely circulated on WhatsApp groups in Karachi.
The person who sent the tip said they had received a forwarded Urdu-language visual on WhatsApp and shared a copy with iVerify Pakistan.
The text of the visualization said: “According to Sui Gas Company’s schedule, gas will be available from 5:30 to 8:30, 11:30 to 1:30 and 5:30 to 8:30.”
It further claimed that gas supply would remain restricted or completely suspended outside these hours.
The viral image did not explicitly state that the alleged schedule was issued by the SSGC. It also did not mention that the schedule was for Karachi only.
It should be noted that SSGC is the gas utility responsible for supplying natural gas across Sindh and Balochistan. The alleged schedule therefore raised concerns among the residents of Karachi.
Journalist Shahid Husain also shared the same photo on X with the following caption: “Regular opening hours for Sui gas delivery in Karachi have been fixed and citizens have started updating their WhatsApp statuses to share the news with each other. Such is the situation in Karachi these days.”
The same claim was also shared on YouTube.
Method
A fact-check was launched to establish the veracity of the claim due to widespread public concern over the timing of gas supply in Karachi.
A keyword search was conducted to confirm whether any mainstream media reported on the claim, but returned no results.
Also, no such notification or update was shared by SSGC on its official website and social media handles such as Facebook and Instagram.
iVerify Pakistan contacted Salman Ahmed Siddiqui, official spokesperson of the SSGC, for comment, who called the claim “false”.
“It’s an absolutely false post as it doesn’t mention Sui Southern; that’s why we haven’t responded to it,” he said.
He further added that almost over 30 such fake posts were circulated by social media accounts to get likes and comments.
“If there is such a notice, we will also post it on our website and share it with print and electronic media.”
Fact check status: False
The claim that a viral visualization shows a new SSGC gas supply plan is false.
No such schedule has been issued by SSGC.
This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan – a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.
