Parliament Tightens the Screws on Petroleum Distributors

Federal legislators passed today a sweeping bill tightening licensing requirements for distributors of petroleum products and imposing stiffer penalties on violators. The authors' of the bill believe it will combat smuggling, hoarding, and fuel adulteration.

The law carries prison sentences of five to seven years for those convicted of adulterating fuel, tampering with equipment, or operating without proper certification. Authorities can confiscate contraband fuel from smugglers, while distributors caught overcharging buyers risk fines ranging from 600,000 Br to one million Br; repeat offenses carry prison time.

Under the new legislation, which passed with two votes against and one abstention, aspiring distributors are mandated to construct storage depots capable of holding at least half a million liter of fuel, open four service stations, and expand to 10 stations within three years. Existing distributors have five years to meet comparable benchmarks.

Lawmakers also ratified a shift to mandatory digital payments along the supply chain, ending long-standing cash-based practices. During a heated debate, several MPs criticised regulators for what they described as lax oversight, pointing to unauthorised checkpoints operated by regional states that reportedly levy arbitrary fees on fuel transporters. Others called out the government for not pursuing “known participants” in illicit trade, arguing that tolerating such activities undercuts the integrity of the rules.

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