Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia unveiled the National Retail Outlet Fuel Monitoring System on Wednesday, 7th April,2021 to sanitize the country’s petroleum product supply and distribution.
The device, dubbed the Automatic Track Gauging and Forecourt Transaction Control System, was established by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to aid in the improvement of production and profitability in the petroleum downtown sector.
Additionally, it will prevent revenue leakages in the Petroleum Downtown Sector, as the state lost an approximate GH4.7 billion in tax revenue in the petroleum distribution value chain between 2015 and 2019.
The machine utilizes a 3D Calibex Device to control fuel inventory, assist in reading fuel tank levels, and track sales details at fuel retail outlets 24 hours a day.
Vice President Bawumia, who was the Special Guest at the launch of the Fuel Monitoring System in Accra, commended the NPA’s board, management, and personnel for using technology to improve the quality of petroleum product delivery.
The event brought together important petroleum downstream players, including the Association of Oil Marketing Companies, business leaders, and Members of Parliament.
Read Also: The National Lottery Association (NLA) responds to GLOA
Vice President Bawumia noted that taxes and levies on petroleum products enabled the government to maximize revenue for infrastructure growth and social interventions.
As a result, he said, it was critical to plug all revenue leakages in the petroleum downstream field in order to maintain transparency and accountability.
He reaffirmed the Akufo-Addo administration’s commitment to digitising the Ghanaian economy in order to achieve the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ agenda.
Vice President Bawumia reported that the government began digitizing pre-mix fuel delivery for fisher folk in 2018 and has charged the National Petroleum Authority and the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development to complete the project this year in order to halt illegal activities in the field.
He shared hope that the fuel control scheme will be expanded to the landing beaches, assisting in the management of the government’s premix fuel subsidy.
Vice President Bawumia also unveiled the Electronic Control Cargo Tracking System in January last year to monitor and halt illegal activities involving the sale of petroleum products through oil tankers.
“The Government of His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is committed to digitizing this economy in order to ensure efficient tax transparency, and will completely endorse every state agency or program that advances the digitization agenda,” he said.
Dr Bawumia outlined several policy guidelines aimed at combating illegal activity in the downstream petroleum industry.
The NPA’s mandate is to prevent solvent Oil Marking Companies (OMCs) from expanding supplies to highly indebted OMCs determined to circumvent payment of regulatory levies and margins.
Along with collecting its margins effectively, the NPA must provide read-only links to the Ghana Revenue Authority’s accounts for petroleum downstream revenue.
This access will provide for a comprehensive reconciliation and confirmation of price movement and its associated financial records.
This will allow the NPA to identify and resolve discrepancies between the taxes received by the Ghana Revenue Authority and their official sales.
Additionally, it will allow the tax associated with stock volumes to be accounted for.
Additionally, the NPA and the Ghana Revenue Authority shall align their credit days.
Currently, the NPA works on a 10-day grace basis, while the GRA operates on a 25-day credit period, which complicates tax collection reconciliation.
The guideline said that for maximum efficiency, these two entities’ credit periods must be synchronized.
Thus, the latest fuel tracking device invention will assist in reducing the tax disparity between the tax owed on official NPA purchases and the GRA’s registered collections/receipts.
Vice President Bawumia assured that the government will continue to foster an atmosphere conducive to business growth, assist the purchasing public in obtaining adequate petroleum products at all times, and ensure the availability of high-quality petroleum products at reasonable rates.
SOURCE: ATLFMONLINE
