New taxes cut kerosene consumption by 75 percent

Kerosene consumption has dropped by 75 per cent following a Sh18 per litre tax introduced on the fuel, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has said.

The ERC director general Pavel Oimeke on Monday attributed the reduced consumption to reduced demand from unscrupulous traders who were using the commodity to adulterate petrol and diesel to inflate their profit margins.

“The quantities of kerosene being taken from the depot has reduced considerably. Our own studies show that a lot of it, 70 per cent to 75 per cent, was going into adulteration,” he said.

This implies that of the 533,794 metric tonnes of kerosene that was consumed in 2017, the ERC estimates that more than 400,000 metric tonnes were mixed with other products such as diesel and sold to motorists.

Fuel adulteration leads to economic losses in unpaid taxes, deterioration in performance of engines and unfair competition.

The ERC and office of Director of Criminal Investigation yesterday raided an illegal fuel depot in Bahati Estate where about 1,000 litres is believed to have been adulterated and sold to motorists.

Four people, including the owner of ERC-licensed truck, have been arrested.

The ERC said that more than 300 of such traders have been arrested in the past three months in different parts of the country, including Nairobi, Eldoret, Kisumu and Nakuru.

“This crackdown on illegal fuels will be intensified since we still have comeback cases. We will make this a continuous process to ensure taxes and safety aren’t sacrificed, “said John Gachomo an officer from Criminal Investigations Department.