The fresh wrongdoings of bottlers came to light when the market inspectors of the Department of Commerce (DoC) inspected depots of Trishuli Gas at Kalanki and Baba Gas at Gwarko on Friday. [break]
The Trishul Gas depot was found holding 48 date expired cylinders which are prone to accidents. Worse still, all those cylinders were refilled and ready for circulation.
“That is not all. Both the depots were found storing cylinders in a very unsafe way,” reads a statement issued by DoC.
Likewise, the inspection team also found that Baba Gas was supplying gas in cylinders that weighed 100 grams more than the net weight (of empty cylinders) mentioned in the cylinders. This means the company was supplying 100 grams less gas to consumers than the stipulated supply quantity (14.2 kg).
“The weight was perfect when we weighed the filled cylinder. But the empty cylinders weighed 100 grams more,” said Bishnu Prasad Regmi, section officer of DoC.
By circulating the overweight cylinders, the company was making a profit of Rs 10 per cylinder. But officials said the crime was not just limited to that. Going by the existing rule of Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology and Nepal Oil Corporation, bottlers are restricted from selling gas less than 14.2 kg. This means the company not just cheated consumers but also flouted existing rules.
The inspection team has asked the proprietors of both the companies to furnish clarifications within seven days. They have also been asked to correct their wrongdoing by accurately disclosing the net weight of empty cylinders, improving the storage system and getting rid of the date expired cylinders.
“We have asked the companies to make necessary corrections and report to us within seven days,” reads the DoC statement.
Meanwhile, consumer rights activists have expressed surprise over DoC´s move of not taking stringent action against the erring companies.
Instead of seizing date expired and overweight cylinders, the inspection team asked the proprietors of the depots to send back the cylinders to the respective bottlers. Taking advantage of such laxness by the concerned authority, consumer right activists said the bottlers have been putting consumers at risk.
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