On the evening of March 5th, Lao Dong Newspaper reported on the gas station at No. 164 Quang Trung (Ha Dong) hanging a sign announcing gasoline outage. This is a gas station belonging to INDEL Investment and Development Joint Stock Company (INDEL CORP).
According to the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade, the Department has received document No. 23/26/CV-INDEL dated March 3, 2026 of Indel Investment and Development Joint Stock Company on requesting guidance on regulations in gasoline and oil business activities, the following contents: Before the economic and geopolitical fluctuations in the Middle East region in recent days, the Vietnamese gasoline and oil market is showing signs of being affected by supply and gasoline and oil prices.
Accordingly, many key units and distributors of gasoline and oil do not have enough supply, and have to divide the source to partners to maintain retail operations, besides, the gasoline and oil discount rate from key traders is only at 50 VND/liter of gasoline and oil or at times the discount is 0 VND, retail businesses are currently suffering losses of 400-500 VND/liter of gasoline and oil.
If this situation continues for one to two weeks, it will seriously affect the financial flow of retail businesses and they will no longer be able to continue business operations. The Company proposes and seeks opinions on the temporary suspension of business at gasoline and oil retail stores throughout the Company's system in the near future if the supply and discounts on gasoline and oil are not improved.
Regarding this matter, the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade reported to the Ministry of Industry and Trade:
Based on the provisions of Article 26 of Decree No. 83/2014/ND-CP dated September 3, 2014 and Clause 21 Article 1 of Decree No. 95/2021/ND-CP dated November 1, 2021 stipulating the Rights and Obligations of gasoline and oil traders for gasoline and oil retail stores, which includes the content: "Only stop selling goods after being approved in writing by the Department of Industry and Trade, except for cases of force majeure (fire, explosion, flood or efforts to apply remedial measures but cannot maintain sales)". However, there are no regulations on whether when discounts are not sufficient to compensate for costs, businesses operating at a loss are allowed to stop selling goods or not.
On the other hand, in Clause 4, Article 35, Decree 99/2020/ND-CP dated August 26, 2020 on Regulations on penalties for administrative violations in the field of oil and gas, petroleum and gas business: A fine of between 10,000,000 VND and 20,000,000 VND shall be imposed for one of the following violations:
- Reducing sales time compared to the listed time or compared to the previous sales time without a valid reason or without notifying the competent state management agency as prescribed;
- Not selling goods, stopping selling goods without being approved in writing by a competent state management agency or without notifying a competent state management agency as prescribed;
- Reduce the quantity of goods sold compared to the previous period without a valid reason or without notifying the competent state management agency as prescribed.
To solve difficulties and obstacles arising in the actual retail gasoline and oil business operations according to the above proposal of enterprises, the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade requests the Ministry of Industry and Trade to pay attention and have written instructions so that the Department of Industry and Trade has a basis to guide enterprises and implement state management in the area in the field of gasoline and oil business.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Dang Van Dung - General Director in charge of business of INDEL Investment and Development Joint Stock Company (INDEL CORP) said that INDEL CORP has sent an official letter requesting the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade to support connecting and coordinating supply from other key traders/distributers in the area.
At the same time, there are guiding documents, creating conditions for the company to sign contracts to supplement the source of goods as soon as possible. Consider having solutions to regulate supply sources to ensure the stability of the gasoline and oil market in the city. The company is committed to strictly implementing the provisions of law on gasoline and oil business, listing prices and selling goods in accordance with regulations; and will promptly report when the situation is overcome.
