Research by Spanish-language daily Mural has revealed that motorists in Guadalajara are being shortchanged by Pemex gas stations pretty much every other time they fill up their tanks.
The newspaper sent out reporters in a car fitted with a hidden tank in the trunk. They visited 30 gas stations in the metropolitan area, each time filling up with 40 liters of either magna or premium gasoline (value: 514.40 or 542.40 pesos). The amount of gas dispatched was checked after each visit in the presence of a notary public.
To ensure accuracy, the investigative team emptied the gasoline into specially calibrated containers (they look much like old fashioned milk jugs) that are also used in official inspections by the federal Consumer Protection Agency (Profeco).
Remarkably, pumps shorted the reporters in all but seven of the gas stations. The worst offender was the Pemex station (8986) at Avenida Concepción in Tlajomulco, which came up short by 3.12 liters of gas – equivalent to 40.12 pesos. On average, pumps at the 23 offending Pemex stations dispatched around three percent less gasoline than their gauges had recorded. The research concluded that customers are being shortchanged at about half the gas stations in the metropolitan area to the tune of around two dollars for every 40 dollars spent.
The federal Consumer Protection Agency (Profeco) is responsible for carrying out regular inspections of gas pumps to verify their accuracy. The agency has a video on its website showing how this process is carried out. Profeco says pumps that shortchange customers are shut down and can only go back into service after they are repaired and re-inspected. Fines for irregularities can total as much as two million pesos, according to Profeco.
Gas stations owners insist they do not deliberately recalibrate gas pumps to defraud customers. They blame most errors on mechanical and electronic failure at the pumps.
The argument, however, does not to hold up to much scrutiny. Logic determines that in some cases faulty equipment would occasionally dispense more gas than was purchased. In no instance at any of the 30 gas stations checked by Mural did that occur.
Pablo Gonzalez, president of the Mexican Association of Gas Stations Concessionaires (Amegas), claimed recently that Pemex shortchanges them by around 500 liters on every tanker delivery of 20,000 liters. Anonymous sources have said that gas station owners compensate for this shortfall by deliberately altering their pumps to deliver the wrong amount of gas.
Meanwhile, federal authorities have stepped up their investigation of Pemex employees accused of widespread fraud involving gasoline deliveries. Twenty-one
Pemex tanker drivers were recently arrested after a police operation at the El Salto distribution plant. The drivers, who have been released on bail, deny any wrongdoing and say gasoline deliveries are tightly controlled with many safeguards that make manipulation almost impossible.
Also in Jalisco, law enforcement agencies are clamping down on illicit sales of stolen gasoline – a common occurrence in many municipalities outside the Guadalajara metropolitan area. This week, police identified a clandestine sales point in the center of Tlajomulco, where gasoline could be purchased for as little as seven pesos a liter. Some 40,000 liters of gas were seized.