Look out for frequent customers, Kelantan petrol stations told

Some motorists are buying up to 60 litres of petrol at border towns in Kelantan, says domestic trade and cost of living ministry deputy director-general of operations Shamsul Nizam Khalil.

PETALING JAYA: Petrol station owners in Kelantan have been warned against selling RON95 petrol to frequent buyers suspected of hoarding it for smuggling, says the domestic trade and cost of living ministry.

The directive will be extended to other border towns in Perlis, Kedah and Perak, the ministry’s deputy director-general of operations, Shamsul Nizam Khalil, said.

He said that at border towns in Kelantan, these motorists, often using Malaysian-registered vehicles, purchased up to 60 litres of petrol.

For this amount, a motorist can travel 500km to 600km.

Shamsul said the frequent refuelling by motorists suggested that they were smuggling fuel across the border.

“We have detected this activity at several stations and have instructed all petrol stations in Kelantan to prevent repeat purchases of RON95,” he was quoted as saying in a Harian Metro report.

He said the directive was already in place in Kelantan way before the targeted diesel subsidy came into effect.

Surveillance by enforcement teams is going on at border petrol stations.

“Fuel station operators caught violating this directive face the risk of having their licences suspended or revoked,” he said.

Subsidised petrol is priced at RM2.05 per litre, significantly lower than in neighbouring countries.

This makes it attractive for smugglers looking to profit by selling it at higher prices across the border.

The government has banned the sale of RON95 petrol to foreign-registered vehicles since August 2010. Foreign vehicles can only buy the higher-priced RON97 petrol, which is being sold at RM3.47 per litre now.