The federal government on Friday commended seven filling stations in Port Harcourt for not adjusting their meters to cheat their customers.
The filling stations are Planet, Benita and Unity on Air Force Road, Stage Oil (Aba Road), Eterna (Aba Road), Yemsonat, Palflax and Rain Oil at Port Harcourt Township.
Mr Ibrahim Isah, Head of Surveillance, Weight and Measures Department, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, announced in Port Harcourt.
Isah, who spoke during surveillance of fuel filling stations in the city, said the seven stations sold products at government approved prices as well as passed all other integrity tests.
“Unfortunately, several other filling stations visited during our ongoing routine inspection were either caught under dispensing fuel or operating without a valid licence.
Isah, a deputy director in the ministry, said the department would soon begin a reward initiative to honour filling station operators who complied with standard regulations while shaming defaulters.
He explained that the surveillance in Rivers and Bayelsa States were aimed at checking accuracy of all measuring instruments used in dispensing petrol, diesel and kerosene in the two states.
According to him, the Federal Government frowns seriously at marketers who under dispense fuel to cheat citizens, especially at a time when purchasing power is low.
“So, this inspection is part of our commitment to clamp down on the use of faulty and altered equipment by some business owners to cheat citizens.
“Also, we are checking the accuracy of the scales used for certain Liquefied Petroleum Gas products as well as the operator’s certificate of verification.
“During our surveillance, we sealed filling stations under dispensing and others who refused to pay verification fees due to the federal government.
“The department is now up and doing especially as the federal government has provided us with operational vehicles and logistics to effectively tackle this menace head on,” he said.
Isah called on marketers to urgently correct their fuel pumps to the reasonable allowable error of 0.03 per cent.
He said the ministry hoped to begin the sale of goods in the country through the use of weight and measuring scale as done in some African countries.
The deputy director promised to release a comprehensive list of both compliant and defaulting filling stations at the conclusion of its investigations in Rivers.
