Petrol, gas dealers slapped with fines
Petrol, gas dealers slapped with fines
After three months of investigation into fraud allegations, inspectors from the Ministry of Science and Technology have fined 678 petrol and liquidified petroleum gas (LPG) dealers a total of over VND5.3 billion (US$254,000).
Violations included fraudulent metering of weights and measures, selling substandard products, and trademark violations, including companies making unauthorised and misleading use of the Petrolimex brand designation.
The announcement was made at a conference held here yesterday to review the results of inspections of over 5,200 petrol and LPG dealers nationwide. The number of distributors found in violation therefore accounted for 13 per cent of the total, including 508 petrol dealers and 107 LPG distributors.
The inspection team also revoked the licences of 56 gas dealers and 32 petrol stations, the ministry said.
The ministry's chief inspector, Tran Minh Dung, said fraudulent measuring techniques had become more sophisticated even as the overall incidence of such fraud had seen a decreasing trend. In 2003, 29 per cent of investigated dealers were found to have committed such violations, while that fell to 18 per cent in 2008 and to 13 per cent this year.
Investigations were also conducted after several automobile fires were attributed to methanol, a low-quality petrol additive. Inspectors took 836 samples while other organisations took 1,329 samples for testing.
While inspectors discovered two samples mixed with the additive, it was difficult to take action as Viet Nam lacks standards or specific regulations on petrol additives. Fines of just VND300,000-500,000 ($15-25) were also too low to deter further instances, Dung said.
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