In a bid to end arbitrary closures and strikes, the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has amended its Petroleum Products Dealers Bye-laws to introduce strict legal penalties for non-compliance.
Following these stringent updates, petrol pump owners face severe consequences if they halt operations unlawfully.
The revised regulations ensure that obstructing the sale and distribution of essential fuel will meet with heavy financial and operational penalties. Errant dealers can be fined anywhere from Rs 300,000 to Rs 1 million if they obstruct fuel supply. Moreover, the NOC will halt the supply and distribution of petrol and diesel to offending pumps for a period ranging from 5 to 15 days.
With these strict provisions now in place, the government aims to ensure that no entrepreneur will dare to shut down petrol pumps and trigger artificial shortages.
