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Petrol cheats face losing licences
Petrol stations that cheat on quality or quantity will have their licences cancelled, the Ministry of Science and Technology has warned.
Dang Quang Huan, deputy chief inspector of the ministry, said the new regulation would take effect on July 31.
The ministry’s move comes in a fresh effort to crack down on petrol stations that have continued their fraudulent practices despite regular inspections and penalties.
In 2003, the Inspectorate raided 4,474 stations across the country and found 29 per cent of them flouting measurement and quality rules.
Last year, they found more than 15 per cent of 2,948 petrol stations they inspected tampering with pump metres or selling low-quality fuel.
The maximum penalty until now for such offences has been a fine of VND20 million, and this has hardly proved a deterrent.
Huan said after paying the fines, the petrol stations went back to their fraudulent ways since the profits they make by adulterating fuel were much higher than the fines.
The new regulation stipulates fines of three to five times the value of adulterated petroleum a station holds in stock.
In case of repeated offenders, inspectors can recommend revocation of their licences, he said.
"Besides, publicising offenders’ identities will help inform and protect consumers," he added.
An inspector also said 30,900 litres of A92 petrol seized at three stations by the HCM City Department of Science and Technology on July 23 for adulteration would not be destroyed, unlike normal.
Instead, the stations would be ordered to mix the appropriate amount of petrol to ensure they have the right octane content.
The stations found to have tampered their pumps to shortchange consumers would be closed down until they fix the pumps, he added.
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