Telangana: Petrol pumps delay price revision

Hyderabad: Daily revision of fuel prices, started on Friday, is causing inconvenience to motorists for an hour early in the morning. Petrol pumps took almost an hour from 6 am to 7 am to update the revised rates on fuel dispensers. Once updated, the new system went off smoothly without any complaints.

While the revision was done faster in petrol pumps having automated fuel dispensers, it took an hour in non-automated dispensers. Technical issues like slow internet connectivity, obtaining dealer-wise passwords from oil marketing companies (OMC) for each petrol pump to update rates took time.

Motorists who came to pumps for a refill at 6 am had to wait for an hour to get it. Dealers said this problem will continue daily till 100 per cent automation of petrol pumps is achieved and technical issues are sorted out.

“We have to update revised rates every day at 6 am in the new system. First day, it took an hour to complete this updating process. Though the process was comparatively easier in automated petrol pumps, it took time in non-automated ones. The same situation will be repeated in this new daily pricing system till 100 per cent automation is achieved and technical issues are sorted out,” said Rajiv Amaram, president of the Telangana Petrol Dealers’ Association.

G Vinay Kumar, a petroleum dealer said, “Even in automated machines, we are facing difficulties due to technical glitches. The internet connectivity issues and huge rush on the OMC's server with all dealers trying to log on at the same time, has been delaying the updating process. These technical issues should be sorted out immediately.”

Civil supplies department and OMCs have formed special teams to carry out random inspections of petrol pumps across the state to verify whether they are updating prices every day. When the process is done manually, there is more scope for irregularities.