DTI fields teams to monitor LPG prices

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has issued a crackdown against manufacturers and sellers of substandard liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as well as those prematurely increasing LPG prices.

DTI Secretary Manuel Roxas II said he would convene the National Price Coordinating Council tomorrow, Nov. 10, to review the recent price increases in LPG and other fuel products.

He said the government wanted to check if the price hike was premature since the present available stocks might have been manufactured or the raw materials bought prior to the increase in the price of gasoline and crude oil in the world market.

The DTI said LPG prices rose notably in the third quarter from P11.37 per liter in July to P12.21 per liter as of Nov. 5.

Early this year, the DTI formed a Special Monitoring Assistance to the Regional Operations Group Team (Smart) to help monitor and enforce LPG standards.

Since January, the Smart apprehended 47 companies manufacturing or selling substandard LPG tanks, penalizing them with fines amounting to a total of P1.2 million.