Filling stations defy fuel price controls in some Arakan State townships

By DMG 15 Jul 2022

DMG Newsroom
15 July 2022, Sittwe 

Fuel prices remain high in Arakan State’s Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw and Mrauk-U townships, despite gas stations having been ordered to bring down their selling prices, according to local residents. 

The reference prices set by the Myanmar regime’s Supervisory Committee on Import, Storage and Distribution of Fuel for Friday were K1,865 per litre for Ron 92; K1,935 for Ron 95; K2,270 for HSD (500 ppm); and K2,330 for HSD (50 ppm) and HSD (10 ppm). 

But in Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw and Mrauk-U townships, prices as high as K2,600 per litre were reported.  

“Fuel prices have not declined in our town,” said auto rickshaw driver Ko Khaing Tun Aung from Ponnagyun. “We have to pay K2,600 per litre for octane. It is the price sold by filling stations, and not by roadside vendors.” 

A Mrauk-U resident said a litre of 92 Ron octane sold for K2,400 in the town. “I heard that the price is over K1,800 in Sittwe. I don’t know why prices have not dropped in our town,” he told DMG. 

A filling station operator from Mrauk-U who did not want to be named said prices are higher at unlicensed filling stations. 

“At my gas station, we sell at K2,400 per litre because we don’t have a licence. So, we have to pay municipalities because of that, and we have increased our prices to cover that cost,” he said. 

The Supervisory Committee on Import, Storage and Distribution of Fuel said consumers can file complaints with the committee if filling stations fail to sell their fuel in accordance with the reference prices. It announced the fuel pricing policy earlier this month. 

Licensed filling station operators in Sittwe such as Shwe Yoma, Kyaw San, Htoo, City and BMI sell in compliance with the reference rates, according to the vice chairman of the Arakan State Fuel Importers and Distributors Association, Ko Aung Htike. 

“There are five licensed filling stations in Sittwe and they are selling according to the prices fixed by the government. I don’t know about other townships,” he said.