Hanoi - The Vietnamese government Tuesday discussed measures to punish petrol stations that tamper with gauges on pumps to cheat customers, a government official said. In a recent nationwide inspection by Vietnam's Ministry of Science and Technology, 420 of 1,312 petrol stations were found to dupe customers by using inaccurate fuel gauges or other methods.
"We acknowledge this cheating is widespread in Vietnam," said Tran Minh Dung, chief inspector of the Ministry of Science and Technology. "We will take action against them."
Petrol stations use a wide range of devices, including smart chips, to dispense less fuel to customers than is shown on the pumps' displays.
At many stations, a measuring device is secretly installed to control the display, allowing attendants to show the exact amount customers want to buy when in fact less has been pumped.
A litre of petrol sells for 1.03 dollars in Vietnam, but stations often pump 6 to 9 percent less than the designated amount, inspectors said.
To avoid being exposed, the stations use the fake gauges only when customers ask to fill their vehicles directly. If customers ask vendors to pump the gas into containers with marked measurements, the vendors switch off the fake gauges.
Petrol station owners say they are forced to cheat because of government price limits and inadequate subsidies for gasoline.
"We could not stay in business if we did not cheat customers," said Pham Duc Linh, owner of a station in the central highland province of Gia Lai which inspectors found was using fake gauges.
"We can only make a profit of 200 dong [0.01 dollar] per litre, but we have to pay a lot of extra money to ensure our business runs smoothly," Linh said. According to figures published in the local media, petroleum-importing companies make a profit of 0.27 dollar per litre.
Linh said police, tax and other officials visited him several times per year and demanded bribes of 6 dollars or more, cutting sharply into his profit of 4 dollars per day.
"If I did not give them money, they would make trouble for me and I could not do my business," said Linh. "I have no choice but cheat customers."
The government said petrol stations committing fraud will be fined at least 600 dollars or have their licenses withdrawn.
