QC mulls ordinance to ensure right amount of cooking gas in tanks

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Quezon City council is deliberating an ordinance that, if passed, would require cooking gas delivery personnel to bring weighing scales with them so customers can make sure they are getting the right amount of gas in every cylinder of liquefied petroleum gas they purchase.

The proposed ordinance has been referred for study to the council’s committees on trade, commerce and industry; on energy, water and other natural resources; and on laws, rules and internal government.

Under the measure an LPG dealer or distributor who does not comply with the requirement would be fined up to P5,000 or have his business permit revoked.

District 1 Councilor Alexis Herrera, who proposed the ordinance, cited the right of every consumer to get his money’s worth, saying, “It is the right of every consumer to demand for an accurate weighing method of the consumable goods that he is buying. This is because the price one has to pay will depend on the weight of the said article.”

He pointed out that in the sale of LPG, consumers have to rely on “the honesty and goodwill of the distributor or dealer,” thus the need to require LPG delivery personnel to bring along weighing scales to assure customers that they are paying for the weight they are actually buying.

Under the draft ordinance, “Every retailer of LPG is required to have a weighing scale or weighing machine during delivery in order to give the buying public an opportunity to check the correctness of the weight of every LPG tank that they are buying.”

“In the event that the weight is lesser than what appears to be indicated in the LPG tank, the price shall be correspondingly reduced by the seller,” it said.

If the ordinance is passed, the Quezon City business permits and licensing office would draft the measure’s implementing rules and regulations and enforce its provisions.

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