The Control Yuan yesterday censured the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) over a scheme that saw state-owned CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) overcharge consumers for gasoline-linked air pollution and gas fund fees.
Under Control Yuan regulations, the ministry has to report to the Control Yuan how it plans to revise the flawed floating oil price mechanism, under which the CPC uses the West Texas International (WTI) prices as the benchmark.
In a report released by the Control Yuan yesterday, the CPC was found to have overcharged consumers by NT$2.492 billion (US$78.57 million) in air pollution fees and NT$2.944 billion in gas fund fees from October 2006 to the end of last year.
The CPC started charging air pollution and gas fund fees that were higher than the amount it had submitted to the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) after the refiner began implementing a floating price mechanism for gasoline and diesel in September 2006, Control Yuan member Cheng Jen-hung (程仁宏) said.
“That the CPC was able to overcharge consumers shows that the mechanism established by the MOEA was not well-designed,” Cheng said.
Control Yuan member Lee Ping-nan (李炳南) said the ministry should have consulted with the EPA in designing the formula for calculating oil prices.
The ministry was also charged with failing to demand the CPC adjust retail oil prices down when it received refunds from the EPA, the report said.
In response, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Sheng-chung (林聖忠) said the ministry would review the mechanism.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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