PUBLISHED : 24 Dec 2023 at 07:24
The Energy Ministry will amend a law to ensure consumers receive the exact amount of fuel that they pay for.
Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga posted on his Facebook account on Saturday that the ministry will revise various laws to prevent loopholes that petrol stations can use to take advantage of consumers.
He responded to an issue popular on social media concerning a motorist, Ritdech Daengpradit, who uploaded a video clip on TikTok on Thursday.
He complained that a PTT petrol station in Saraburi did not dispense the exact five litres of fuel he had paid for.
He paid the full amount, but when he measured it twice, the amount of petrol he received was 28 millilitres short and 25 millilitres short respectively. He wanted to know why they had fallen short.
Mr Pirapan said he received the report about the incident on Friday afternoon and found that a law overseen by the Commerce Ministry allows gas stations to have a 1% fluctuation of every five litres that a customer purchases, or up to 50 millilitres less or more than they paid for.
“The rule is for the Department of Internal Trade to check the accuracy of fuel being dispensed at petrol stations.
“But the gas stations should refill the full amount of exactly five litres as paid for by the customer because the customer did not pay less than the full price,” he said.
He said he would include the rule enforcing gas stations to provide the full amount of petrol in an amendment to the Fuel Trade Act.
“I will include the matter in the plan to revise the fuel trade law because the current version has many loopholes.
“I have instructed the CEO of PTT and director-general of the Department of Energy Business to solve the matter,” said Mr Pirapan.
Meanwhile, Somjit Nguikai, 62, a rubber farmer in Prachuap Khiri Khan, filed a petition to the provincial commerce office after he bought a gallon of five litres to purchase petrol in a gas station along Phetkasem Road in tambon Koh Lak of Muang district but received only 4.5 litres.