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NOC to sell fuel only through petrol pumps
Criticised for failing to ensure fair distribution of petroleum products, Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has said it has stopped distributing fuel from its Thankot depot and will sell petroleum only through refuelling stations.Criticised for failing to ensure fair distribution of petroleum products, Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has said it has stopped distributing fuel from its Thankot depot and will sell petroleum only through refuelling stations.
The government has barred the depot from distributing fuel amid complaints its officials are involved in irregularities.
During a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Industry, Commerce and Consumer Welfare on Tuesday, lawmakers had accused NOC officials of being involved in black-marketing of fuel.
The depot had been distributing petroleum products to vehicles owned by hospitals, hotels, corporate sectors, media houses and Dairy Development Corporation.
“To make the distribution even and transparent, we will publish the lists of petrol pumps to which NOC will provide petroleum products,” said NOC Spokesperson Mukunda Ghimire.
According to NOC, it will sell petrol only through pumps owned by government and security forces. It said the petroleum products would be supplied only to emergency services from Wednesday. “However, we will not provide petroleum to taxis as we have limited stock.”
NOC Managing Director Gopal Bahadur Khadka said the oil monopoly has 1,355KL of petrol and 2,004KL of diesel in stock. “We have been receiving only 15-20 percent of the normal supply, so the stocks have depleted,” he said.
With NOC’s new plan, public vehicles would be provided with 15-20 litres of petroleum based on their registration numbers (even or odd). While a microbus/jeep would get 15 litres, mini buses would get 20 litres and big buses 30 litres of fuel every alternate day.
Similarly, two- and four-wheelers belonging to media persons and government officials would be provided 3 litres and 10 litres of petrol per week, respectively. School buses with private number plates would get 30 litres of petroleum on Monday and Thursday.