Yuan Bin: Chongqing announced the results of its gas fee survey. Why don’t people buy it? | Chongqing Gas Price Incident | Mistaken and Illegal Estimates | Violation of Law and Serious Dereliction of Duty

[The Epoch Times, April 21, 2024]The much-discussed incident of skyrocketing gas bills in Chongqing has finally received a response from the local government.

On April 19, Chongqing held a press conference on the gas investigation. The official notification stated that it has been found that Chongqing Gas Group and other gas companies have problems such as overbilling and overcharging gas fees reported by some citizens, and they have been ordered to provide full refunds. The superior agency of Chongqing Gas Group has decided to exempt Che Dechen from Chongqing Gas Group. Party committee secretary and general manager positions.

The report also stated that the problems of over-counting and over-charging by Chongqing Gas Group are specifically reflected in the following six aspects: incorrect and illegal calculations, chaotic gas billing cycles, inadequate implementation of price policies, disorderly organization of meter replacement work, and severe work force. There were deficiencies and the company’s internal supervision was not in place, but the investigation team did not find problems with gas meter measurement and quality, gas quality, or changing gas meter measurement through remote operation.

Many netizens did not appreciate this announcement.

So ungrateful?

First, as anyone who frequents shopping malls knows, there are signs in many shopping malls: Steal one and you will get ten. What’s more, as far as the situations disclosed in the report are concerned, some of them were not stolen, but robbed. How can we convince the public just by asking for a full refund? He should be ordered to return three times, and then fined ten times as much as a punishment.

Only the overcharge will be refunded, and Chongqing Gas Company will not be fined. This must be fraud, right? According to the provisions of the Consumer Rights Protection Act, compensation should be tripled. Nor can it just be a full refund.

Second, serious mistakes have been made on people’s livelihood issues. This is illegal and serious dereliction of duty. It is a crime. Is it just a matter of removing Che Dechen from the post of Party Secretary and General Manager of Chongqing Gas Group? He should be punished by law.

Third, if you go out to buy something and someone miscalculates the bill and overcharges you, you will still say sorry. As for Chongqing Gas Group’s large-scale overcharge, the official response was to refund the money and remove the top leader of Chongqing Gas without even an apology.

Fourth, and most importantly, the official report was eloquent and listed a lot of problems. On the surface, it cannot be said that the investigation team did not investigate seriously or carefully, but in fact, it was avoiding the serious issues and getting through the trivial matters.

Why do you say that?

Many Chongqing residents previously reported that after replacing their gas meters with new ones, the numbers went very fast, even faster than an airplane. Some residents reported that their homes were not using gas, or that their communities had no gas, but their gas meters were still idling. However, the official notice stated that the investigation did not find problems with gas meter measurement and quality, gas quality, and changes in gas meter measurement through remote operation. So how to explain the above phenomenon? The official investigation did not give a positive response or sufficient reasons. A careful comparison shows that these phenomena have nothing to do with any of the six major issues announced by the official survey. Obviously, officials are avoiding the question. The public has reason to question: Do issues such as gas meter metering and quality, gas quality, and changing gas meter metering through remote operation really not exist? ,

Furthermore, the official announcement said that Chongqing Gas Company has many problems, such as insufficient manpower, incorrect copying and estimation, organizational chaos, and inadequate implementation of policies, but all wordings intentionally or unintentionally avoid two words – ” deliberately”.

In a word, it is all objective helplessness and no subjective intention.

However, in the fourth quarter of 2023, Chongqing Gas’s gas sales volume only increased by 0.69%, while its net profit surged by 824% during the same period. Insufficient manpower and chaotic management can actually increase corporate profits. Do you believe it?

If management chaos can skyrocket corporate profits, what incentive do managers have to correct this chaos? If you don’t correct it, isn’t it intentional?

The skyrocketing gas prices in Chongqing are certainly related to the chaotic management of the gas company, but that is not the crux of the problem. It is likely that the gas company is using its technological advantages and information monopoly to purposefully cut off the common people. If so, it is a flagrant crime. Does the official dare to announce such a truth? Of course not. Therefore, we can only make a big fuss about management, avoid the important and ignore the trivial to confuse the public, in order to calm the anger of the people and cover up the real truth!

Editor in charge: Jin Yue