New Delhi, Even as the problem of adulteration in petrol and diesel remains at large, 58 retail outlets have been terminated by oil marketing companies (OMCs) on established cases of adulteration in the years 2015-16 to April-September 2021.
The Government is putting in place an effective monitoring mechanism for identifying and checking adulteration alongwith OMCs which are taking measures as per marketing discipline guidelines and the dealership agreement to ensure customers get the right quality and quantity of fuel, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli informed Lok Sabha on Thursday.
The OMCs are making available filter paper, calibrated density equipment (hydrometer/thermometer) at retail outlets for checking quality and quantity of MS/HSD and conducting regular as well as surprise inspections at retail outlets by OMC field officers/senior officers/mobile labs throughout the country. Irregularities are being curbed with creation of a separate quality assurance cell for carrying out inspections, drawing of samples from petrol pumps at random and sending for testing to authorised laboratories and sealing of tankers before leaving company premises to protect against pilferage/adulteration en-route.
The OMCs have also stepped in with installation of GPS to monitor movement of tank and trucks carrying MS/HSD, third party audit of retail outlets by OMCs for effective monitoring and benchmarking and automation of retail outlets by OMCs which enable the real-time capture of sales transaction and monitoring of tank stocks and receipts. Established cases of adulteration are classified as ‘critical irregularities’ under the marketing discipline guidelines and in such cases the retail outlet dealerships are being terminated in first instance itself by OMCs.