We have received a lot of complaints about malpractices and short delivery," Sanjay Pandey, controller, LMO, Maharashtra, told dna.
Have a niggling suspicion about being short-changed while buying petrol or diesel? To curb short delivery (ie giving a lesser quantity than what's been paid for) of petrol and diesel to customers, the state legal metrology organisation (LMO) is moving to remove lacunae in the fuel supply chain.
It has made it mandatory for petrol pumps to get their dispensing units tested and audited from their manufacturers before they are stamped and certified by the LMO. The archaic dip rod system used to measure fuel quantity when it is offloaded from tankers to petrol pumps will also be replaced with modern flow meters to measure the amount.
Each of the around 4,700 petrol pumps in Maharashtra sells an average 350 kilo litres (KL) of petrol and diesel every month.
"We have received a lot of complaints about malpractices and short delivery," Sanjay Pandey, controller, LMO, Maharashtra, told dna. He said loopholes existed in the present distribution system right from the time the fuel was decanted at petrol pumps, and further, when it was sold to consumers. "There are two factors here — petrol pumps and dealers get less and then they dispense less to consumers," added Pandey.
"When the diesel and petrol is transferred to petrol pumps, it is measured using a dip rod, a fraud-prone technology...," said Pandey. Plus, there was a chance of the dip rod being changed by the transporter while taking the fuel to the outlet, which could result in less fuel being given to the pump.
Plus, there was an issue of temperature — when petrol was filled at one temperature and decanted at another, the volume differed, said Pandey.
Hence, the LMO wants flow meters to be used when fuel is being transferred from tankers to retail outlets and will not calibrate dip sticks henceforth, he added.
A pilot project will be started soon at four petrol pumps in Mumbai in association with flow meter manufacturers to ensure that retailers get the right volumes.
Tanker manufacturers or fabricators will also need a licence and get the capacity of their carriers stamped at the manufacturing stage. "Every manufacturer of a dispensing unit will have to give us an audit report (of units installed at petrol pumps) from June 1," said Pandey. This certification about the machines being fine would help prevent tampering of dispensing units by retail outlets to give short delivery to consumers. The LMO will certify these units only then.
Welcoming the decision to introduce flow meters, Ravi Shinde, president of the Petrol Dealers Association, Mumbai, noted that while many processes in the supply chain had been computerised, the dip rod system, which had been introduced when the business started, still existed. The lacunae in this system meant that transporters and those in the link could indulge in pilferage, leading to short delivery at the retailers end.
Sanjay Pandey, controller, LMO, Maharashtra, urged that while purchasing fuel, consumers needed to insist on the tank being filled, using the slower notch on the nozzle, which would lead to them getting more petrol.
While Maharashtra has around 4,700 petrol pumps, the number in Mumbai is 223. In Mumbai, sale of petrol outstrips that of diesel, while the situation is reverse in the rest of the state — retail outlets in the city sell around 200 KL of petrol and 150 KL diesel every month. In places outside Mumbai, pumps sell an average of 250 KL diesel per month, with petrol sales being lower at 150 KL.
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