Multiple users have been circulating an alleged Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) gas supply schedule across various WhatsApp groups since Monday. However, SSGC has not issued any such notification, and the viral visual is fake.
How it started
On Friday, iVerify Pakistan received an alert from the public tipline seeking authentication of a purported gas supply schedule circulating widely on WhatsApp groups in Karachi.
The individual sending the tip said they had received a forwarded Urdu-language visual on WhatsApp and shared a copy with iVerify Pakistan.
The text of the visual said: “According to Sui Gas Company’s schedule, gas would be available from 5:30am to 8:30am, 11:30am to 1:30pm, and 5:30pm to 8:30pm.”
It further claimed that gas supply would remain limited 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 applied to Karachi only.
It must be noted that the SSGC is the gas utility responsible for supplying natural gas across Sindh and Balochistan. The alleged schedule, therefore, caused concern among Karachi residents.
Journalist Shahid Husain also shared the same visual on X with the following caption: “Regular operating hours have been set for the supply of Sui gas in Karachi, and citizens have started updating their WhatsApp statuses to pass the news on to each other. These are the conditions in Karachi these days.”
The same claim was also shared on YouTube.
Methodology
A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to keen public concern about the timings of gas supply in Karachi.
A keyword search was conducted to corroborate whether any mainstream media outlet reported on the claim, but it yielded no results.
Furthermore, 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 for the SSGC, for comment, who called the claim “fake”.
“It is an absolutely fake post, as it does not mention Sui Southern; that is why we haven’t responded to it,” he said.
He further added that almost over 30 such fake posts were being circulated by social media accounts to gain likes and comments.
“If there is any such notification, we post it on our website as well and share it with print and electronic media.”
Fact-check status: False
The claim that a viral visual shows a new SSGC gas supply schedule 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.
