CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday penalized nine managers for a quality control lapse that exposed gas stations and motorists to substandard 95-octane unleaded gasoline last month.
Top managers who have been punished include a vice president in charge of the oil refining division, who was given a demerit, and the head of its Taoyuan-based oil refinery, who has been reassigned to a non-managing role and given a demerit.
The state-run company said that the quality control lapse was caused by improper cleaning of plant equipment, which destabilized the refining process for batches of gasoline produced on Oct. 1, Oct. 9 and Oct. 10.
CPC has projected at least NT$2.7 billion (US$87.84 million) in losses as it begins to reimburse affected consumers and gas stations.
Following grumblings about its complicated reimbursement process, CPC has agreed to provide customers with refunds amounting to double their purchases via wire transfers, as well as expanding the number of gas stations processing refunds from 80 to 112.
CPC has also made refund processing available until 8pm seven days a week for the convenience of consumers.
Earlier, the company had offered to provide a full refund on purchases in addition to vouchers for an equal amount of gasoline, but the refunds could only be transferred to the company’s stored-value card.
Consumers can now apply for refunds until the end of June next year, CPC said.
CPC processed NT$21 million in refunds on Thursday, the first day it began accepting customer claims.
That translated into NT$42 million in liabilities based on its commitment to provide double reimbursement.
Customers had handed in 34,791 purchase receipts to file for their refunds that day, the company said.
Among those who filed claims, 47 percent opted to have refunds sent via wire transfers, while 53 percent chose the company’s stored-value cards, it said.
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