18 Feb 2019

An Official from Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority (BERA), Mr Atang Latelang, says regulation of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) will help protect consumers from unfair pricing. 

 Mr Latelang said service providers on one hand would have suitable prices for them to make profit but not at the expense of the consumer.

He was speaking at an LPG draft regulations stakeholders meeting in Maun on February 15.

Mr Latelang said the LPG regulations draft followed the BERA Act of 2016, which became operational September 2017.

It was meant to regulate sectors of electricity, natural gas and petroleum.

For his part, BERA engineering manager, Mr Gift Bakumbi, said liquefied petroleum gas was used by homes and people across sectors.

He therefore said the regulatory authority deemed it fit to have contributing views from its stakeholders before the LPG regulation draft was adopted by Parliament.

Some of the draft regulations were that all service providers who had been operating without licenses would have to apply for a license within three months wonce the LPG regulation was in operation.

Service providers who had been using some kind of license on the other hand were to be given six months to apply for the LPG license.

The draft also had penalties for those who, among other things, failed to comply and areas that might lead a license to be evoked.

Stakeholders agreed with some draft regulations and suggested that some be revised such as fees for wholesale licenses. ENDS