Bhatta threatens to scrap licence
KATHMANDU,JAN 22:
After the petroleum dealers added Re 0.70 in the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) fixed rate of Rs 115 in a litre of petrol, minister for Commerce and Supplies Lekh Raj Bhatta threatened petrol pumps of scrapping licence, if they donot sell petroleum products at the government fixed rate.
“The Ministry of Commerce and Supplies will scrap licence of petrol pumps and also bottling plants, if petrol pumps and cooking gas bottling plants continue to halt their services and do not follow government directives,” he said, during the meeting with petroleum business yesterday.
However, it is not clear whether the ministry will walk the talk since it has been failing to curb, let alone punish, petroleum dealers and cooking gas bottling plants that are involved in various illegal activities.
“Even though the petroleum business in the country is full of controversy including syndicate and cartel, adulteration, cheating in quantity, tampering with gas cylinders, the ministry is yet to take action against them,” said consumer rights activists Jyoti Baniya.
After the minister’s threaten, both the Nepal LP Gas Industries Association and Nepal Petroleum Dealers’ National Association postponed their protest programme for the time-being.
Nepal Petroleum Dealers’ National Association had decided to charge Re 0.70 on a litre of petrol and Re 0.80 on a litre of diesel and kerosene defying the decision of the Nepal Oil Corporation.
“The association has agreed to sell petroleum product at the rate fixed by the state oil monopoly,” president of the association Saroj Prasad Pande said, adding that it is holding talk with ministry to solve problem.
Nepal LP Gas Industries Association is also in discussion with the ministry. They have been demanding to increase their commission rates. Bottling plants are currently receiving Rs 28 on a cylinder of cooking gas but they want to convert it into percentage basis from existing flat basis. Similarly, the state oil monopoly is giving Rs 2.47 on a liter of petrol and Rs 1.75 on a litre of diesel and Rs 1.95 on a litre of kerosene dealer commission, which they are saying is not enough.
“The ministry will ask both the associations to justify their demands,” joint secretary at the ministry and coordinator of the dialogue committee Deepak Subedi said.
“Most of the bottling plants have been failing to ensure basic safety measures including hydrostatic test and water storage,” he said, adding that some plants are even involved in tampering with cooking gas cylinders. “The trend of only seeking gains without delivering basic services is not good and should be changed,” he said, adding that the ministry will direct petroleum entrepreneurs to abide by the law.
In recent years, the tendency of socialising the loss and personalising the profits has increased as the regulatory authority and the concerned government agencies are weak and also seeking loopholes for their personal benefits at the cost of the consumers.
Source: THT
