The new Consumer Rights Protection Law should be used to investigate skyrocketing vehicle fuel prices, the Choi In Tong Sam Association told a press conference yesterday.
The prices of vehicular fuels in Macau have reached unprecedented levels recently.
The group is not the first to speak out against the burden on the public, especially the delivery and courier industry, from the rarely-lowered fuel prices in Macau.
The history of these calls stretches back as early as approximately 2008, when then lawmakers António Ng Kuok Cheong and Au Kam San kept pushing the government and fuel merchants to offer consumers options.
Besides the fact that the government decided to lift the vehicle fuel tax, which was then MOP1 per liter of gasoline, fuel merchants also agreed to lower prices of the commodity.
Back then, the duo criticized local fuel merchants for frequently hiking fuel prices and, when international fuel prices were depressed, they only decreased local selling prices slightly, if at all.
The same argument arose at yesterday’s press conference, which was presented by lawmakers Ella Lei and Leong Sun Iok, both deputy executive directors of the association, Kou On Fong, secretary-general of the association, as well as Chan Hon Pio and Kuong Chi Meng, both deputy executive directors of the Macao Federation of Transportation.
The reason why the association joined with the federation in speaking out on this topic is that workers in the delivery and courier industry have been strongly affected by the high fuel prices.
Kuong told the press conference that the high fuel prices, when intertwined with the falling job counts, have made their income even lower than expected.
Kou highlighted the fact that the association has met with the government on the matter. The Economic and Technological Bureau (DSEDT) told the association that “fuel merchants provide various discounts, promotional and member privileges, which facilitates competition.”
Kou said that the association does not find this convincing due to the fact that the market lacks transparency in the components of sale prices of fuel.
He emphasized that local fuel merchants should adopt the practice of publishing fuel prices at the billboard of each fuel station, which is common in mainland China and many other places in the world. This way, he said, consumers will be on alert for any high fuel prices and can choose a less expensive merchant.
However, when questioned about the meaning of such a practice in Macau, where the numbers of fuel merchants and stations are small, meaning that consumers do not have many choices, Kou emphasized the need for transparent pricing.
Despite the small number of choices in Macau, Kou explained, as a matter of fact, that sale prices of fuels in Macau do have differences, albeit slight. By publishing prices of the day at the door of refueling stations, consumers will have an idea about the prices and can choose a less expensive station.
Ultimately, there should be more options for vehicle fuel products in Macau. So far, only 98-octane fuel is available in Macau. Many have asked for products with lower octane levels, which they said is acceptable for use with the vehicles.
Leong said that, although selling prices are highly influenced by global conditions, such as the recent Russian war on Ukraine, the association wants the government to play its role in ensuring transparency in the local fuel market.
The scenario of “quick increase and slow decrease” of fuel selling prices has long stirred up public disgust. Leong said that, whenever global fuel prices increased, an impact was seen quickly in Macau. But when global prices decreased, prices in Macau usually held.
Lei stressed that the new Consumer Rights Protection Law should be used to investigate whether the current high prices and the lack of lowered prices are legitimate.
Previously, former lawmaker Sulu Sou and incumbent lawmaker Ron Lam also spoke out on the inflated fuel prices.
In January this year, Lam criticized local fuel merchants’ “quick increase and slow decrease” practice on fuel selling prices. He pointed out that competition in the fuel market is weak in Macau.
In a reply to the lawmaker, the then Economic Bureau replied in the same way that it replied to the association, using unclear member privileges and intermittent discounts as justification for it seeing competition in the market.
Meanwhile, Sou also urged the government to use the Consumer Rights Protection Law to at least monitor the situation of soaring sale prices of vehicle fuels. He stressed that he was not against a particular industry, but was just trying to make pricing transparent to consumers. In addition, he criticized the Consumer Council for not establishing an advisory entity.
