Sophisticated in gasoline fraud

(Baonghean) - Along with price fluctuations, gasoline and oil trading activities in the province have become complicated. Businesses have taken advantage of price fluctuations to close down and stop selling or sell in small quantities, not complying with the correct prices... Especially violations of regulations on measurement and technical standards have negatively impacted people's psychology and consumption needs; affecting the reputation of legitimate businesses.

On October 22, in Tien Phong commune (Que Phong district), the provincial inspection team discovered that Binh Dinh Private Enterprise had changed the technical structure and measurement specifications of an A92 gasoline measuring device; the actual error was found to be +7.5%. Also in Kim Son Town - Que Phong, Binh Huong Private Enterprise had replaced the program IC of a 0.05s diesel measuring device in favor of the seller with an actual error of +7.25%. Each business was fined 70,000,000 VND, had its business eligibility certificate revoked for 1 month, and had 2 program ICs confiscated...

Previously, on October 10, the specialized inspection team of the Department of Science and Technology inspected the Yen Thanh petrol and food store (belonging to the Dong Vinh General Food Trading Enterprise). Through the inspection, the team discovered that the facility had replaced the program IC of the A92 petrol measuring device to make the measuring device inaccurate in favor of the seller; the error of the above measuring device at the time of inspection was +4.4%. The Inspectorate of the Department of Science and Technology decided to impose a fine of 70,000,000 VND; revoke the right to use the certificate of eligibility for petrol and oil trading for a period of 1 month and confiscate the program IC.

Fraudulent devices were discovered by authorities at a business establishment violating the Law on Measurement.

Despite hearing a lot about fuel fraud, consumers still have no way to protect themselves from the scams of unethical gas station owners. There is no other consumer sector where buyers are forced to turn a blind eye to the deceitful tricks of sellers like gasoline. “For consumers, gasoline is a commodity that is sold as it is, buyers only know how to pay but do not know about the shortage and poor quality. The only support for customers is the honesty of the business.

If we calculate, an average motorbike owner has to spend from 300,000 - 400,000 VND/month for gas, if the seller cheats on the meter by 10%, it means that the customer has been robbed of 30,000 - 40,000 VND/month. The above manifestations are a form of appropriating money from the people and workers. We hope that when fraud is discovered, the authorities will handle it strictly to create fairness in business and protect the legitimate rights of consumers" - Mr. Nguyen Dinh Hoa, a teacher at Nghe An Pedagogical College shared.

As of April 2014, the gasoline and oil distribution network in Nghe An province had 632 agents and stores with about 950 pumps. The gasoline and oil supply sources come from key enterprises such as Vietnam National Petroleum Corporation (Petrolimex), Petroleum Import-Export Company (Petex), Petroleum Trading and Processing Enterprise (PDC), and Vietnam Oil Corporation (PVOIL). Most of the retail stores' facilities have been upgraded and equipped with modern measuring columns with high-precision digital electronic technology to meet business and service requirements. However, this technology also creates many opportunities for fraudulent acts when some enterprises intervene in the automatic operating system of the gasoline and oil measuring columns, causing damage to customers. This is also a major problem for authorities in the management of measurement at gasoline and oil measuring columns.

Pursuant to Decision No. 1182/QD-KHCN-Inspection of the Department of Science and Technology on specialized inspection of standards - measurement - quality of goods and industrial property, from October 10, 2014 to November 13, 2014, there were 46 petrol and oil businesses in 9 districts and towns (including Dien Chau, Yen Thanh, Anh Son, Quynh Luu, Hoang Mai, Que Phong, Tan Ky, Tuong Duong and Ky Son) that the provincial inspection team conducted surprise and random inspections. Thereby, the functional forces discovered 10 businesses violating with fraudulent forms such as replacing program ICs; arbitrarily removing the lead seal of measuring devices without notifying the agency; affecting the power source (cutting off the power supply) to erase the errors of measuring devices that were detected through inspection; using faulty measuring devices with errors exceeding the allowable level; Arbitrarily removing the lead seal of measuring instruments without notifying the competent State agency. In addition to the above tricks, some business establishments do not conduct inspection of measuring instruments according to regulations... Based on current legal regulations, the inspection team established a record, sealed the violating exhibits and collected a fine of a total of 771,000,000 VND. The inspection team also provided the records to Nghe An Police to study and establish a special investigation project to clarify the agency owners who violated the law.

According to Mr. Tran Quoc Thanh - Director of the Department of Science and Technology: Previously, fraudulent forms such as installing additional electronic measuring circuit boards hidden in the CPU gaps of the fuel meter, using the SPKEY 2000 keyboard to separate into 2 different control panels (circuit modification) ... were detected by the authorities, so most of the stores no longer use this form. Currently, there is a more sophisticated and discreet form of fraud to avoid detection by the authorities, which is to replace the program IC to adjust the error of the fuel measuring device beyond the allowed level. Of the 10 stores that violated the law, 7 stores violated the law by cheating with ICs. The fake program IC has the same shape as the real program IC, and can be installed to run 2 parallel programs with different correct and incorrect results.

To run the wrong mode, enter a default password, the error can be adjusted by the seller. To run the right mode again (when the buyer uses a can, bottle... or when there is an inspection team), just turn off the power supply to the measuring device or press any key on the device's keyboard. The error of each IC is set by the business owner. The highest fraud during the inspection was 11.6% (buying 10 liters, actually only 8.9 liters), while according to regulations, the error level of the pump column is only allowed according to the new measurement standard in 2013 is an increase or decrease of 0.3%. This type of fraud is very difficult to detect, because the program IC on the main board of the measuring column still has the seal of the measuring unit and the manufacturer, there is no evidence to prove the behavior changes the technical status and measurement characteristics of the measuring device.

Gasoline and oil are products that consumers find difficult to control with the naked eye, and cannot detect measurement fraud or quality fraud. Authorities cannot regularly monitor each business in all gasoline and oil business activities. Therefore, the core factor that determines the quality and quantity of this special product depends largely on the awareness of the business. That requires gasoline and oil business owners to have business ethics and not to do business dishonestly. To avoid fraud, Mr. Tran Quoc Thanh recommends that consumers: “You should buy gasoline by volume, not by even amount, because usually when inspecting gas pumps, the inspection unit will put the lead in an even number of liters, and all points will adjust the IC correctly. Observe the display of the gas meter, ask the staff to turn the meter to “0” before pumping; if you see unusual actions such as cutting off the power, pressing an additional button before entering the amount, you must be vigilant. If you are suspicious about the quantity, the buyer can ask the sales staff to check by pumping gasoline into standard containers available at the store or gas station (according to regulations) to check and compare. In addition, you must boldly denounce if you discover any dealer or gas station showing signs of violations, intentionally measuring less for customers so that the gas business can be more transparent and fair.”

Faced with the current widespread violations, the authorities need to have solutions to prevent thoroughly, handle synchronously and strongly enough; Publicize on the mass media the identities of establishments that commit fraudulent acts in measuring gasoline so that consumers know and avoid them. On that basis, a wide monitoring network of the people and functional units for gasoline retail establishments is formed. If violations are detected, consumers will boycott, which is the highest deterrent penalty for violating establishments.

Specialized inspectors on measurement, goods quality and industrial property have inspected petroleum business establishments in Nghe An.

By November 5, 2014, inspection of 43 establishments discovered 12 violations, fined 11 establishments with a total fine of 561 million VND, revoked licenses, sealed and suspended business operations of 7 establishments, and transferred the case file to higher authorities to handle 1 establishment violating measurement quality beyond its authority.- CL

Article and photos:Ngoc Anh