Top government officials are lying through their teeth. On Thursday, Birat Petroleum, a private oil importer and distributor, was found selling petrol at an arbitrary rate of Rs 130 a liter, when Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has capped the petrol price at Rs 99 a liter. The 31-rupee difference apparently owes to the higher quality of petrol Birat is selling. Or that is what the oil importer claims, a claim that is curiously backed by top government officials. But according to the Nepal Bureau of Standards and Metrology, which measures the quality of petrol available in Nepali markets, there is no difference in the quality of petrol that Birat is selling from the quality of petrol being sold through various NOC depots. It was after the onset of the Indian blockade that the government had allowed private companies to import oil, supposedly to ease the hardship of common people reeling under acute fuel shortage. Until then only NOC was allowed to do so. In the event, only Birat Petroleum was able to get the license to import petrol and sell it for as much as Rs 190 a liter.Two months ago when Birat first imported fuel, maximizing its profits by taking advantage of the desperate Nepali consumers seemed to be its only motivate. It is no different now. The strange bit is that the government is allowing such blatant loot of its people. In fact, evidence points to active complicity of senior government officials in this black-marketing. First of all, as per the Distribution Regulations and Petroleum Policy, it is illegal for a private company like Birat to use NOC's depots to sell its oil. But senior government officials like the Director General of the Department of Supplies, Gokul Dhital, still shamelessly defend Birat's modus operandi. Such irresponsible defense of a private company makes us suspect that those supporting Birat occupy the highest levels of KP Sharma Oli government. Otherwise, why hasn't NOC been able to supply enough fuel to the market when virtually all restrictions on fuel imports from India have been removed? Why do the thousands of liters of (cheap) vehicular and cooking fuel that is being imported from India every day disappear, but the (expensive) fuel of a private company is easily available?
The government has way too many skeletons in its cupboard, which is why the parliament's Public Accounts Committee on Friday asked the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies to furnish a clarification in this regard. The ministry and NOC officials must answer why NOC is not selling fuel at market price, and in enough quantities. If it did so, unscrupulous private operators like Birat would be priced out of the market. Over the past couple of months we have repeatedly noted with alarm the seeming complicity of senior government officials in black-marketing of daily necessities. With the government sheltering black-marketers and criminals, no wonder unscrupulous private companies feel they can break the law with impunity. Only strong legal action against complicit government officials will restore public faith in this government.
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