Poor awareness leads to adulteration of fuel

Visakhapatnam: Lack of awareness among consumers in the city regarding the options available to check the quality of fuel at filling stations has left ample scope for adulteration. Many consumers complain about the low quality of fuel, but they do not know about the simple tests that they can demand a dealer to conduct, to ensure that they receive value for their money. There is a need for people in Vizag to be aware of these tests because this is one of the few cities where new experimental plans of oil marketing companies, such as the introduction of BS-IV fuel and daily dynamic pricing, are being tried out.

One such test of purity of petrol is to put a couple of dr-ops on a piece of filter paper; unadulterated petrol should evaporate without leaving be-hind a stain. When this reporter asked for filter papers to conduct the test at some petrol bunks in the city, the staff took an extremely long time to locate the filter pape-rs that had been stacked away in a corner.

The owner of a HP petrol bunk said, “Keeping filter papers at the bunk is part of our standard operating procedure; but I have hardly come across consumers who have asked for it in the last 10 years. I bought a bundle of filter papers some years ago, and it is still lying unused.”

Another simple test to check the density of petrol is through the use of a hydrometer and a thermometer. The density at a given temperature should be within the range specified in the chart provided by fuel companies. However, bunk owners say that almost no one asks for these tests to be conducted. Oil marketing companies used to conduct “Check and Fill” campaigns, but they have stopped doing so.

Argument over safety norms:

As temperatures soar, bunk owners have started taking safety measures seriously. But, the strict implementation of safety norms has resulted in altercations between station attendants and consumers in the city. As per the protocol for safety, bike riders are asked to alight from their vehicles while petrol is being filled. Bikes may catch fire due to overhea\ting and evaporation of fuel, and so this precaution is in place for the safety of the customer. However, some people argue and refuse to get down. People are also seen operating mobile phones near dispensing units, despite it being strictly prohibited.