Caltex and Petron have begun making goodwill payments to motorists whose vehicles suffered engine damage after complaints of contaminated RON95 petrol reached the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry.
The payments were confirmed in the Dewan Rakyat on 5 November by minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali, who said both companies had started customer recovery programmes for drivers whose claims had been verified, the New Straits Times reported.
“Caltex and Petron have developed customer recovery programmes involving goodwill payments based on established criteria, without any admission of wrongdoing or liability at this stage,” he told the House.
“These payments will be made to customers who have submitted complete complaints together with valid supporting documents,” he added, in reply to Abdul Latiff Abdul Rahman (PN-Kuala Krai).
The ministry has been investigating complaints of RON95 petrol allegedly mixed with water since 3 October, with cases concentrated at certain Caltex and Petron stations in Kedah and Penang. Preliminary testing by the Chemistry Department found no water contamination in 43 of the 262 samples collected nationwide, with water content in all of them below 0.05 per cent, the lowest level the laboratory can report, according to FMT.
Officers took the 262 samples from eight station brands across eight states and three oil company depots as at 31 October. Of that total, The Vibes put 259 down to samples taken at petrol stations and three to samples from depots.
The remaining samples are still being analysed and a full report will follow once testing is complete. Investigators are now looking at other possible foreign substances and at the fuel formulation supplied during the affected period, while both companies have sent samples from named stations to their own laboratories, including facilities overseas.
Armizan said the findings were not yet conclusive, but the issue did not appear to affect the entire supply chain. It appeared to involve fuel supplied during a particular period, he said.
The incidents are not being treated as isolated cases. Some affected petrol stations remain closed, and the ministry is looking into losses suffered by the operators.
Motorists unhappy with the compensation offered have other routes to pursue. They can lodge formal complaints with the ministry, file civil suits or refer their cases to the Tribunal for Consumer Claims Malaysia.
The ministry said it held engagement sessions with Petron and Chevron on 9 and 21 October to trace the source of the suspected fuel quality problem. It is also comparing Malaysia’s fuel quality standards and supply chain monitoring practices with those of Singapore, the United Kingdom and Australia.
For Penang, the affected stations sit among the cases the ministry is still working through. The payments give drivers at those stations a channel that does not depend on the outcome of the chemistry tests, while a full report on the remaining samples is still to come.
