…warns against rivalry and unhealthy competition
Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), has threatened to sanction any marketer who fails to display prices of petroleum products at conspicuous locations in their retail outlets, as required by law.
The agency said that a nationwide investigation showed that marketers and hawkers of petroleum products have been engaging in sharp practices, including the inability to open display price lists, unhealthy competition resulting in indiscriminate pricing of petroleum products
The agency in a statement issued in Abuja said it has resolved to apply the law as it is against marketers engaging in nefarious activities and ripping unsuspecting customers and members of the public.
In the statement signed by the PPPRA general manager, corporate services, Mr Apollo Kimchi, the agency said henceforth the long arms of the law sill catch up with culprits, pointing out that operatives of the PPPRA nationwide have been mobilised to enforce the law.
“Marketers of petroleum products must display prices of products in their retail outlets even at night or face sanctions,” Kimchi said. According to him, the PPPRA had embarked on a series of monitoring activities to enable it to gauge the market response to supply dynamics with a view to effecting policies that will improve supply efficiency.
He explained further that the ongoing sanitization effort affords the PPPRA the opportunity to ascertain first-hand much of the activities of marketers, over which complaints have been received from members of the pubic as feedback.
The PPPRA said there had been reports that following unhealthy price competition amongst marketers, some of the outlets were discovered to be selling petrol at N143 per litre, while others sold for N145 per litre.
He said the Agency was focused on ensuring that the competition does not lead to under-dispensing where marketers would hide under the guise of low price to under-dispense products to unsuspecting customers.
“All these discoveries will be fed into policy direction and will also reflect in our collaboration with relevant authorities to know areas that need strengthening and the signs to look out for. Information gathered during the monitoring exercise authenticates the findings made public a few weeks ago that the penetration of Liquefied Petrol Gas (LPG) is actually becoming very popular amongst Nigerians especially for domestic cooking purposes,” Kimchi said
This deep penetration of liquefied gas has also led to a decrease in the consumption of Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK). He appealed to all marketers to always operate within the law and avoid sanctions.
Chibisi Ohakah
Be the first to know when we publish an update
