Consider the following statements: A. Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) is the first regulatory body set up by the Government of India. B. One of the tasks of PNGRB is to ensure competitive markets for gas. C. Appeals against the decisions of PNGRB go before the Appellate Tribunals for Electricity. Which of the statements given above are correct ?

The correct answer is B (2 and 3 only). Statement 2 and Statement 3 are correct, and Statement 1 is false.

• Statement 1 is wrong. PNGRB is not the first regulator set up by the Government of India. That distinction belongs to TRAI, set up in 1997 for telecom. PNGRB was created under the PNGRB Act, 2006, and came into being in 2007 for downstream petroleum and natural gas.
• Statement 2 is correct. Among PNGRB's objectives under the 2006 Act is to promote competitive markets for natural gas and to protect consumer interest. This is why it regulates pipeline access, tariffs and city gas distribution licences.
• Statement 3 is correct. Appeals against PNGRB orders lie before the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL), not before a petroleum-specific tribunal. Many aspirants wrongly assume a separate oil-sector tribunal exists.

The core concept is sectoral regulation: PNGRB is a statutory, quasi-judicial regulator with its own act, and the appellate route is a key institutional feature. For Mains, this links to debates on the gas-based economy, regulatory independence and the multiplicity of sectoral regulators.

Trap: Students often assume the oldest or most prominent regulator is the first one set up, and they wrongly guess that a petroleum-specific tribunal hears PNGRB appeals.