Fuel pumps operated by police, army sealed for cheating customers

A government monitoring team on Thursday sealed a diesel dispensing machine of Nepal Police’s Petrol Pump in Naxal, Kathmandu, for providing customers with less amount of fuel than they pay for THE government’s monitoring on fuel stations has shown even the pumps operated by the Nepal Army (NA) and the Nepal Police are involved in cheating customers. A joint monitoring team of the government on Thursday sealed a diesel dispensing machine of Nepal Police’s Prahari Kalyan Kosh Petrol Pump in Naxal, Kathmandu, for providing customers with less amount of fuel than they pay for. The monitoring team comprised of officials from the Department of Commerce and Supply Management, Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) and Nepal Bureau of Standards Metrology (NBSM). “Out of five fuel pumps of Nepal Police, one diesel pump has been sealed as it was found dispensing 30 ml less fuel on every 5- litre sales,” said Hari Narayan Belbase, director of the Commerce Department. Earlier on Tuesday, Shakti Devi Petrol Pump operated by the army in Lagankhel, Lalitpur, was found selling less diesel and petrol than what customers pay for. The inspection team had prohibited the pump from fuel trading until the next notice. During the monitoring, the pump was found selling 50ml less diesel and 15-20ml less petrol on every 5-litre sales. The monitoring team on Thursday also inspected Sajha Petrol Pump (Pulchowk), SP International Ink (Pulchowk), NA’ Ripu Mardini Petrol Pump (Bhadrakali) and Trishakti Bhawani Fuel Centre of Harishiddhi (Lalitpur). The pumps were, however, found being operated under the government-set standards, according to the Commerce Department. The government bodies — Commerce Department, NBSM, Department of Food Technology and Quality Control — have increased the frequency of market monitoring after the CIAA instructed them to expedite monitoring to regulate the market effectively. On Tuesday alone, nine petrol pumps of the Kathmandu valley were inspected, out of which only two pumps — Valley Rikesh Suppliers of Gairigaun, Baba Oil Stores of Kalanki, and Jayashree Ganesh Oil Stores of Dhungeadda — were found clean. As per the monitoring report of the Commerce Department, Unique Fuel Centre (Balkumari) and Namaste Oil Store (Gwarko) had problems in calibration of their fuel dispensing machines and were instructed to correct them first to resume sales. On Wednesday, the inspection team had sealed Siddhartha Fuel Centre of Lokanthali, Bhaktapur. The Commerce Department said Siddhartha’s both petrol and diesel dispensing machines were less fuel than what customers pay for. “The pump was found selling 230-265 ml less petrol and 180-185 ml less diesel in sales of every 5 litres,” said Belbase. He said the pumps that were found cheating customers will face action as per the Nepal Standards Act. The Commerce Department is also planning to file a case based on the Consumer Rights Protection Act. Also on Thursday, a monitoring team coordinated by the Commerce Department on Thursday inspected Mayos noodles factory of Himalayan Snacks and Noodles located in Ugratara, Kavre. Compared to previous years, the government has increased market monitoring activities this year. However, the number of action taken and/or cases filed against the wrongdœrs is very less, according to Consumer Rights activists. The government in the first 11 months of the fiscal year inspected around 900 businesses. “Only seven cases were filed in the court this year and that too were based on complaints not monitoring of the government,” said Jaggannath Mishra, a consumer rights activist. He stressed on the need for result-oriented inspection.