MANDATORY REGISTRATION AND LICENCING BY MERA FOR ALL PRIVATE STORAGE OF FUEL EXCEEDING 400 LITRES
Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) was established under Section 3 of the Energy Regulations Act of 2004 with the mandate to regulate all energy undertakings in the country. Pursuant to Section 7 of the Liquid Fuels and Gas (Production and Supply) Act of 2004 and Regulation 27 of the 2009 Regulations, all fuel private storage owners, exceeding 400 litres, must be registered by MERA.
The Authority has noted with concern that most of the private storage owners are not registered with MERA. Section 2 (d) of the Liquid Fuels and Gas (Production and Supply) (Amendment) Regulations of 2010 states that “wholesale means the purchase and sale in bulk of petroleum products by a licensed wholesaler or from another licenced wholesaler or from a licenced manufacturer or sale to a licensed retailer or to an end consumer for own consumption provided that the end consumer has own storage capacity which is duly registered and licenced by the Authority”.
The Authority reminds all Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) that private fuel storage registration and licensing is mandatory. We therefore write to inform you that you have a legal obligation of ensuring that your private storage customer facilities are duly registered by the Authority and can only be supplied with fuel when they are dully registered and licenced by MERA. Failure to do so will result in committing an offence under Section 41 of the Liquid Fuels and Gas (Production and Supply) Act of 2004 and upon conviction, you shall be liable to pay a fine of MK50,000,000.00 and 10 years imprisonment. The Authority therefore wishes to notify all OMCs to supply fuel for private use only to private storage facilities that are registered and certified by MERA.
As stated above, all institutions that are not registered by the Authority must apply for storage registration certificate for each of the site operated, and pay the applicable registration fee of MK280,000 per year. Below are the Bank Details for the Authority:
MERA BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS
Account Name: Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority
Bank Branch Account Number
a) National Bank Capital City 1276848
b) Standard Bank Capital City 9100003331137
MALAWI ENERGY REGULATORY AUTHORITY
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
16 August 2024