Regulation primer
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On June 25th 2019, new LPG regulations were gazetted. This guide lays out:
the ways in which the new regulations differ from the previous regulatory regime,
- all elements regulators are now monitoring and enforcing,
- the obligations of the LPG marketers, and
- consumers’ rights.
Apart from the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), the other regulators of the new LPG regulations include the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Anti Counterfeit Agency (ACA), Directorate of Occupational Health and Safety (DOSH), National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), and the County Executive Committees (CEC’s) in public health, environment and energy across the country.
Changes in the new regulation
Consumers can now only purchase a refilled LPG cylinder of the same brand as the empty one that they present at the retail outlets. Before, consumers could interchange empty cylinders of one brand with any available brand of the same size at the retail outlets.
Only the brand owners are allowed to handle and refill their gas cylinders. Previously, the competitors could handle other brand owners’ cylinders which was exploited by unscrupulous business people who would illegally refill cylinders that didn’t belong to them and there was no traceability or accountability of cylinders that were in the wrong hands. The previous system saw brands lose track of 90 per cent of their cylinders, stalling investment in further cylinders, and seeing legal checks set aside as nameless refillers resold cylinders but could not be made accountable for safety breaches.
Cylinders began to develop faults that were not picked up because they were not undergoing the required safety checks. This saw the beginning of cylinders leaking, exploding, and causing awful harm to people’s homes and lives. These safety procedures are now mandatory.
What the regulators are monitoring and enforcing
Regulators are ensuring that oil marketing companies, also referred to as brand owners, continue to deploy safe cylinders that have a unified valve as prescribed by the Kenyan Standard.
Obligations of the oil marketing companies
- Declare number of competitors' cylinders in their possession within one month
- Collect their empty cylinders from competitors within two months - uncollected cylinders after six months of regulation enforcement, can be rebranded by the holder upon meeting the legally prescribed requirements
- Within two months declare to the EPRA the points where consumers can return their empty cylinders.
Consumer rights
The receipt must state:
- Name, address and telephone number of the retailer
- Name and telephone number of consumer
- Date of sale
- Cylinder brand
- Serial number of cylinder
- Net weigh in KG of the cylinder
- Unit and total price of the transaction