by Jeong Ilwoong
Published 22 Apr.2024 10:22(KST)
The Public Procurement Service (PPS) will strengthen the management and supervision of the public fuel purchasing system.
According to the PPS on the 22nd, the public fuel purchasing system was introduced in 2012 to reduce budgets by integrating the purchase of gasoline and diesel for public sector vehicles. Currently, 5,661 public institutions purchase fuel using dedicated cards at about 1,700 contracted gas stations (S-OIL).
Over the past three years, the average annual public fuel purchase amount was 177.1 billion KRW, and the budget saved through the use of fuel purchase cards (2.88% discount and 1.1% point accumulation) is estimated to be 7.2 billion KRW annually.
However, last year, some demand institutions were found to have included incidental costs such as car wash fees in fuel expenses, and some gas stations sold fuel at prices higher than the agreed amount, contrary to the original purpose of the system, raising the need to strengthen management and supervision.
Accordingly, the PPS revised the budget execution guidelines for each institution to explicitly state that "fuel purchase costs cannot be used for car wash fees or consumable goods purchase costs," aiming to prevent fraudulent activities. The Ministry of Economy and Finance revised its guidelines in December last year, the Ministry of Education in February this year, and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to revise its guidelines within this month.
Self-inspections related to fuel purchases at public institutions will also be strengthened. Card managers at each public institution will be able to check public fuel purchase details via text messages, and institutions will be requested to inspect card usage performance and any improper use during internal audits.
Furthermore, to encourage sound contract management by contractors, the PPS emphasized that the current contractor (S-OIL) will be required to strengthen pre-management such as user education and self-inspections at contracted gas stations, and that high-priced sales will be inspected focusing on contracted gas stations that sell large volumes of public fuel.
Lim Gi-geun, Administrator of the PPS, said, "With the joint efforts of public institutions and contractors, we hope that issues such as high-priced sales and fraudulent use of public fuel will be resolved," adding, "We will continuously monitor the operation status to ensure that 'unfair practices' cannot take root in the public procurement market."
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