Parliament has ratified a bill that will enforce harsher punishments on those convicted of taking part in the contraband fuel trade or adulterating petroleum products.
The amended proclamation carries heavier fines for those implicated in the illicit transport or sale of petroleum products as well as tampering with calibration equipment or committing fraud in digital fuel transactions.
Failure to implement the terms of the mandatory digital fuel marketing system could entail a two-year prison sentence and a fine of up to 300,000 birr. Adulteration, tampering with calibration equipment, smuggling, and transporting fuel products anywhere outside of predetermined routes could carry a sentence of five years.
Meanwhile, a section of the previous proclamation that stipulates prison terms of up to seven years, as well as confiscation of vehicles and goods, for fuel transport owners who fail to take measures to stop the commission of illegal acts such as smuggling has been scrapped from the new bill.
Asha Aya, head of the parliamentary committee for Trade and Tourism Affairs, told lawmakers the provision was dropped because it was troublesome to enforce.
“It was removed from the draft because it is difficult to prove that the owner of the transporter knows when the illegal acts are being committed and it is not appropriate to take away the vehicle as the driver will be fined and the fuel will be confiscated,” she said.
The ratified bill limits the scope of its application by exempting petroleum exploration and development operations as well as the supply of petroleum products for military service.
However it maintains the government’s decisive power over determining and regulating the retail price of petroleum products. It also allows regulators to revoke construction permits for fuel stations if the holder fails to commence construction within six months of attaining a permit.
This week saw prices at pumping stations jump by an average of 10 percent as part of the government’s latest round of subsidy cuts. Benzene now retails at 101.47 birr per liter, up more than 11 percent. Diesel sells for close to 99 birr a liter.
The next round of price escalations is scheduled to take place in three months’ time, according to a statement from the Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration.
