Macau's Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT) said today it has detected that the local branch of international fuel supply company Shell incorrectly calculated the value of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and petrol subsidies allocated by the local government.
The amount involved is approximately 30,000 patacas, the bureau said.
According to a statement released by the bureay today, since the start of the programme, its officials have carried out more than 130 inspections of petrol stations and LPG retail outlets across Macau.
During inspections conducted between May 26 and the morning of June 4, it was found that the Shell service stations failed to correctly apply the agreed calculation method for most petrol transactions, excluding those made via monthly billing or vouchers. Due to a billing system error, the company failed to first deduct the customers' standard discount from the retail price before subtracting the government subsidy, the bureau said.
According to the official website of Shell Hong Kong, the company operates five service stations in Macau.
Impact and Figures
The bureau said that the respective transactions involved a total discrepancy of around 30,000 patacas. The breakdown per transaction is as follows:
Motorcycles: A discrepancy of between 0.4 and 0.7 patacas per transaction.
Cars: A discrepancy of between 2 and 5 patacas per transaction
However, diesel transactions were not affected.
Remedial Action for Consumers
Shell responded to incident by stating that it has meanwhile corrected the system error and has begun refunding the respective amounts to customers, as requested.
Affected consumers can visit any local Shell service station and present any of the following to reclaim their refund:
An SMS notification/alert message
A transaction receipt
An electronic payment record
CCTV footage of the transaction
The bureau said that it will continue to monitor the correct implementation of the subsidy programme, noting that it has appointed an independent entity to audit the sales data and records of all local fuel-supply companies. Shell is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London.
