NewsWhore
08-30-2010, 06:30 PM
The National Consumer Rights Protection Institute (Pro-Consumidor) has granted 60 days for 750 liquid petroleum gas (LPG) retailers in the country to acquire scales and sell the product by weight to domestic consumers in order to prevent the fraud that is believed to have taken place over the past five years.
The institution ordered that gas tanks be weighed before and after they are filled as a way to make the transaction more transparent through Resolution 01-2010.
According to Pro-Consumidor director Altagracia Paulino, the Inspection and Surveillance Department will monitor the fulfillment of this disposition. The measure will be combined with a consumer awareness campaign stating: "Weigh your gas cylinder before and after it is filled so they don't cheat you". As part of the campaign, a team from the Department of Consumer Education will go to several parts of the country to publicize the measure.
Pro-Consumidor points out the equivalence between gallons and pounds of LPG purchased. One gallon of LPG weighs 4.22 pounds, 5.9 gallons weigh 25 pounds, 11.8 gallons weigh 50 pounds and 23.7 gallons weigh 100 pounds.
According to most of today's newspapers, Pro-Consumidor is trying to keep the 2.2 million homes that use LPG from being cheated, as happens at some of the retailers. They are aware that it is more difficult to prevent cheating in the case of the 134,000 vehicle owners who use this fuel. Paulino says that while some LPG retailers might "recalibrate" the scales, the level of fraud will be lower than is currently commonplace.
Pro-Consumidor consultants Jorge Mallen and Luis Arthur said that the drivers of vehicles that use LPG are the first to become aware of trickery because they realize that the performance is reduced within a few hours. In contrast, housewives might take weeks to realize that they have been cheated. They indicated that there is a daily consumption of 1.3 million gallons of LPG in the DR.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)
The institution ordered that gas tanks be weighed before and after they are filled as a way to make the transaction more transparent through Resolution 01-2010.
According to Pro-Consumidor director Altagracia Paulino, the Inspection and Surveillance Department will monitor the fulfillment of this disposition. The measure will be combined with a consumer awareness campaign stating: "Weigh your gas cylinder before and after it is filled so they don't cheat you". As part of the campaign, a team from the Department of Consumer Education will go to several parts of the country to publicize the measure.
Pro-Consumidor points out the equivalence between gallons and pounds of LPG purchased. One gallon of LPG weighs 4.22 pounds, 5.9 gallons weigh 25 pounds, 11.8 gallons weigh 50 pounds and 23.7 gallons weigh 100 pounds.
According to most of today's newspapers, Pro-Consumidor is trying to keep the 2.2 million homes that use LPG from being cheated, as happens at some of the retailers. They are aware that it is more difficult to prevent cheating in the case of the 134,000 vehicle owners who use this fuel. Paulino says that while some LPG retailers might "recalibrate" the scales, the level of fraud will be lower than is currently commonplace.
Pro-Consumidor consultants Jorge Mallen and Luis Arthur said that the drivers of vehicles that use LPG are the first to become aware of trickery because they realize that the performance is reduced within a few hours. In contrast, housewives might take weeks to realize that they have been cheated. They indicated that there is a daily consumption of 1.3 million gallons of LPG in the DR.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)