المملكة: 38 new gas distribution officers in the Kingdom … and 3 mechanisms to monitor violations
These controls include 38 organizational and regulatory actions aimed at controlling the market, protecting consumers, and achieving higher operational efficiency, while encouraging the investment environment and raising the quality of the service.
The new controls cover aspects related to controlling, proving and investigating violations, in addition to organizing the relationship between the authorities who are licensed and consumers, stimulating fair competition, and providing reasonable gas services and high quality in various regions of the Kingdom, without prejudice to the specializations of other relevant bodies.
The controls gave the Ministry of Energy all the powers needed to organize the activity aspects related to the distribution of gas, including issuing licenses, preparing long -term supply plans, market control, tariff adoption, ensuring appropriate geographical coverage for dry gas services and liquid petroleum gas, and achieving supply security.
The controls allowed the Ministry to intervene to ensure the continuity of the service when the agreement was unable to agree between the licensees, which reflects the pursuit of the new system to provide a stable and reliable service, in line with the best global practices.
Multiple activities with one person
The controls authorized granting a license for one person to practice more than one activity within the specified aspects of the activity, such as the operation of gas networks or the creation of liquid petrol packing and storage facilities, provided that the conditions specified in the executive regulations are met. The controls indicated that the license to practice the four main activities mentioned in the system is carried out through an invitation to compete between the qualified, according to what is determined by the ministry.
Consumer goals to protect the consumer
The controls stressed the need for the licensee to adhere to accurate procedures in the billing, and to separate the operational costs from the rest of the other activities to ensure transparency and financial accounting.
Performance control and competition
In the context of its efforts to control the market and prevent monopoly, the ministry set a package of supervisory measures that include monitoring the market conditions and evaluating it periodically, in addition to supporting the supporting national industry, and increasing local content in the areas of manufacturing, employment and services, in order to enhance independence and reduce external accreditation.
Under these controls are prohibited any practices or agreements that restrict competition or negatively affect the principle of open competitiveness in the market.
3 mechanisms to monitor violations
The Ministry has set 3 accredited mechanisms to monitor the violations of the licensee: the field inspection visits, the received reports, and the documents required by the ministry periodically. The ministry is granted a corrective deadline not exceeding 90 days for non -serious violations, while this deadline is not granted in the event of heavy violations, as it is dealt with directly without warning.
This step is important to distinguish between the nature of violations, in order to ensure that services are not disrupted or consumers’ damage.
Accurate
The controls indicated that controlling the violation must be through direct field standing or through official documents, with the need to ensure the occurrence of the violation and document the evidence. The seizure employee edits a detailed report that includes the timing and location of the incident, describing the violation, the resulting damage, and the mechanism of its monitoring, in addition to the violator data.
The employee is obligated to hear the statements of the defendant or his official representation and document them, with the signing of them or proof of abstinence, which guarantees the rights of all legal parties.
In cases that require urgent intervention by the minister, the regulatory controls compelled to submit a detailed note within only 3 days, clarifying the violation and its effects and recommending appropriate procedures, with the aim of accelerating decision -making and protecting the public interest.
After the corrective deadline expires, the Ministry will verify the violator’s commitment to remove the causes of the violation. If the treatment does not take place during the specified period, the file is referred directly to the secretariat of the committee to consider the violations to take the necessary regular measures, which may include penalties, fines or withdrawing the license.
As for serious violations, it is raised directly without waiting or giving an opportunity to correct, to ensure the speed of response and protect public safety.
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