Legal basis and policy purpose
- Republic Act No. 8180 (Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1996) provides for deregulation of the downstream oil industry to foster a truly competitive market.
- Republic Act No. 8180 aims to better achieve fair prices and adequate, continuous supply of clean and high-quality petroleum products.
- The circular implements Rule IV Section 12 (b) of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 8180, which requires retailers of petroleum products to display prices in price display boards.
- The circular establishes that, during full deregulation, the price display board is regularly monitored by the Energy Industry Administration Bureau of the Department of Energy.
Who must comply and what to display
- All dealers/operators of gasoline stations must comply with the circular’s price display board requirements.
- Dealers/operators must display the price of each type of petroleum product sold in their establishments.
- Price display must be made through prominently installed price display boards.
- Price display boards must show prices for petroleum products sold in gasoline stations.
Required display specifications and color coding
- Price display boards must use a color coding scheme tied to the petroleum product type:
- Green for Unleaded Premium Gasoline
- Red for Premium Low Lead Gasoline
- Orange for Regular Gasoline
- Yellow for Diesel Fuel
- White for Kerosene
- Light Blue for LPG
- The circular requires board backgrounds to conform to the listed color coding scheme.
- The circular requires numeric entries to be at least six (6) inches in height.
- The circular requires all numeric entries to be colored in black.
Enforcement, administrative sanctions, and monitoring
- The Energy Industry Administration Bureau regularly monitors price display boards during full deregulation.
- Failure to comply with the circular’s directive subjects the violator to corresponding administrative sanctions.
- Administrative sanctions are imposed by the Bureau.
- The circular enjoins strict compliance from affected dealers/operators.