(ET)
Delhi reported 785 cases of short-delivery of fuel at petrol pumps between April 2014 and December 2017, ranking third among all the states in the number of such cases. The national capital was only behind Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh with 1,560 and 913 cases, respectively, data shared by oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan in Parliament shows.
India has a total of 61,381 retail fuel outlets. Uttar Pradesh with 7,069 retail outlets has the highest number of petrol pumps followed by 5,684 in Maharashtra. Delhi’s third rank on short-delivery assumes importance given the less number of total outlets (396) in the capital city.
In terms of adulteration, Maharashtra tops the chart with 466 cases registered during the period, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 368 cases and Karnataka with 294 cases. Overall, the country has reported a total of 10,898 cases of adulteration and short-delivery of fuel in the past three financial years (2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17) and April-December 2017. Of these, 468 cases have been reported to be caused due to installation of unauthorized chip in dispensers.
Pradhan informed the three state-run Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) – Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) – had terminated the license of 107 retail outlets by 1 January, 2018 across UP, Maharashtra and Odisha on account of electronic chip manipulation in dispensing units.
