Adultrated petrol (gasoline)

Like me most of you have experienced low milage of the car due to poor quality of oil or due to lesser quantity of oil delivery. Here is an article on check of adultration.

Stricter checks at petrol pumps to curb adulteration
By Sanjay Jog, Financial Express, New Delhi, July 22, 2008

Adulteration at the retail outlets (ROs) of oil marketing companies (OMCs) is going on unabated. In a serious bid to tackle the growing adulteration menace, the petroleum ministry plans to streamline the inspection procedure to check adulteration. The ministry has argued in favour of examining the inspection procedures afresh, as more and more dealerships are evading termination on account of irregularities being observed in the procedure of sample collection by inspecting officers.

The ministry has suggested number of steps, which includes a serialised document for preparing reports that should be documented and countersigned by the chief manager level officer, in order to avoid manipulation of reports by field functionaries. The inspection of samples at ROs needs to be done by officers other than the local sales officers.

The ministry also preferred surprise visits for sample inspection, but with the prior approval of a senior officer. Also, the inspection needs to be conducted within a given period of time.

The inspection officer must inform his senior officer after completing inspections and the exact time should be recorded in the report. This should be opened to scrutiny in case any dispute arises. Sources told FE that the idea is to bring in more transparency in the inspection procedure. The ministry has also sought views from OMCs on streamlining inspection procedures."

In case the dealer does not cooperate in investigations, he should be reported to the senior officer and the help of the concerned state agency may be sought. Further, depot samples and stock positions need to be checked by the vigilance wing of the company, on a regular basis and such reports should be forwarded to the marketing director through the chief vigilance officer on a regular basis.

The role of sales officers should be enhanced to improve the business skills of dealers and garnering business for their ROs, rather than routine inspections.

Meanwhile, the state-run IndianOil, in consultation with the petroleum ministry, has already taken some measures to audit the fuel quality at its retail outlets. These initiatives include regular and surprise inspections throughout the country, including rural areas and small towns, joint inspection by the officers of oil companies to identify malpractices and random sampling and testing of petrol bunks to stop erring dealers.

Moreover, IndianOil has now initiated a quality and quantity assurance programme, known as XTRACARE, to ensure that the quality of the product is not compromised, while transporting it from the depot to the consumers * tanks. This is ensured by using tank lorries fitted with tamper proof locks, comprehensive and multiple sealing of dispensing units, stringent periodic and surprise checks, comprehensive testing of samples, dedicated mobile inspection vans and stringent certification by a reputed, independent agency.