HARARE – The Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (ZERA) said Tuesday it had shut down two service stations for demanding cash for fuel.
Both service stations trading as Ruyamuro in Glendale, Harare, and Nzvimbo Growth Point in Chiweshe were insisting on cash payments for scarce fuel and rejecting all other forms of payment, ZERA said.
Energy Minister Fortune Chasi said an Engen service station at the corner of Harare Street and Robert Mugabe in Harare was refusing other payment modes.
“It was reported to ZERA which has summoned the dealer and revocation of dealership is now in progress,” Chasi said.
Many businesses in Zimbabwe are shunning payment by card, opting for EcoCash phone payments or cash which are easier to convert to stable foreign currencies on the thriving black market.
Oil companies are strictly regulated, however, and face penalties for taking decisions that undermine Zimbabwe’s weak currency.
Said Chasi: “This cannot go on and one hopes that other operators will learn something from the action that has been taken and is being taken.
“Now if you have one licence and you operate five service stations and you are caught at one you are still the miscreant, you are the same person, even if you are running other sites and those in this business need to take heed so that they will not say we never told them.
“The government gave warning months ago that the misbehaviour that we are seeing needs to come to an end. This is the beginning.”
