Petrol stations found cheating customers will have their business licences revoked under a new draft decree that aims for tougher punishments for violations of trading regulations.

The loss of business licence is among several severe punitive measures included in the draft decree being prepared by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in an attempt to better regulate and control petroleum trading activities.

Vo Van Quyen, deputy director of the ministry's Market Management Department, said the new decree, expected to be approved by the year-end, imposes the highest penalties on violations by petrol stations.

The violations include stopping sales without legitimate reasons, rigging pump meters, applying selling prices that do not match quoted rates, and adulterating petrol with cheaper substances to increase profit margins.

The draft decree stipulates that stations engaging in any one of the above violations will have their business licences revoked for at least 12 months, Quyen said.

The decree will also significantly increase administrative punishments for other violations, he said.

For instance, petrol stations with verification certificate of measures that are out of date will be fined between VND10 million (US$478) and VND20 million, ten times higher than the current fines.

Penalties for the use of inaccurate pump measuring devices in which the error is of a technical nature could rise from VND7-12 million to VND20-30 million, he said.

The stiffer punishments are expected to discourage fraudulent activities at petrol stations that had assumed serious proportions, directly affecting consumers' interests, Quyen told Nguoi Lao Dong (The Labourer) newspaper.

According to the Market Management Department, there is an increase in the number of businesses violating laws relating to petroleum trading when there are demand/supply or price fluctuations.

Common frauds discovered in recent times include the installation of electronic chips to increase the volume of petrol displayed in the meter, mixing kerosene with petrol, or selling 83 octane petrol (A83) at the price regulated for 92 octane petrol (A92).

Early this year, authorities caught many petrol stations nationwide reducing their working hours or even closing their doors following rumours of petrol price hikes in the coming months.

Such practices angered consumers who called for strong action such business fraud.

So far this year, market management offices in the country have carried out 2,267 inspections, and imposed fines totalling VND529.95 million in 355 cases.

Local authorities have also discovered many cases where petroleum commodities without clear origins were being sold.

In August, the market management office in Ben Tre Province checked and confiscated 20,000 litres of diesel oil because the owners could not produce the necessary invoices and documents showing the commodity's origin.

The violator was fined VND15 million and money from the sale of the confiscated diesel oil was submitted to the provincial budget.

However, officials said enterprises were not deterred from continuing their violations, because the huge profits they earned from fraud far outweighed the fines they had to pay.

VNS