Users of cell phones at petrol stations will be fined up to VND5 million (US$240) under a new regulation that will take effect on August 5.
 |
| A board set up at a gas station telling customers to shut off their engine and avoid using cell phones or fire sources while filling up |
Users of cell phones at petrol stations will be fined up to VND5 million (US$240) under a new regulation that will take effect on August 5.
The regulation is included in Decree 52/2012 by the Government that was issued on June 14, 2012.
The Decree stipulates fines for various violations on fire and explosion prevention and control. Accordingly, anyone who bring matches, lighters, cell phones, electronic devices or equipment that cause sparks, fire or heat to areas where those items are banned will be fined from VND100,000 to VND200,000.
A higher fine, VND500,000, will be applied for using devices that generate fire or heat without ensuring a safe distance under current regulations on fire prevention and control.
Meanwhile, a fine between VND2 million and VND5 million will be applied for users of mobile phones at gas stations and other places such as fuel storage, fuel filling or extracting stations, and shops selling petroleum gas and chemicals that easily catch fire or evaporate and explode.
The authority to issue fines of VND2 million belongs to police chiefs or chairpersons of communes or wards. As for the fines of up to VND5 million, they will be decided by heads of districts or provincial fire police departments or other relevant police departments, or by chairpersons of district-level people’s committees.
As the Decree provides detailed stipulations, the new regulation under it can be applied immediately on the effective date, said Major General Do Van Son, head of the Ministry of Public Security’s Department for Fire Prevention and Control and Search and Rescue.
However, Nguyen Viet Cuong, head of the Instruction Office for Fire and Explosion Investigation, noted that penalties under the Decree will be made only in areas that have signs inidicating banned items.
Senior Lieutenant Colonel Dinh Van Ngan, head of the think-tank office of the HCMC Fire Prevention and Control Department, told Tuoi Tre that from now to the effective date of the Decree, the agency will continue measures to make the new regulation known to the public.
Thousands of leaflets on this rule have been printed and distributed to the public, along with dissemination thereon by local authorities to residents, he said.
He said penalties on using cell phones at gas stations are necessary to prevent fires and explosions, since such devices have become very common in daily life.
Dr Le Huy Ba, former rector of the Institute of Science, Technology and Environmental Management, under the HCMC Industry University, told Tuoi Tre that the safe distance to be kept between a cell phone user and a gas station should be over 5 meters.
(Source: TT News)
