Question : Adulteration of Petrol-Diesel

(a) whether the incidents of under measurement and adulteration of petrol/diesel by various petrol pumps in the country have been reported/noticed by the Government during the last three years and the current year;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the number of complaints received against the petrol pumps/persons involved by the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and the punitive action including cancellation of licences taken against them, OMC/State/UT-wise;
(c) the steps taken by the Government to conduct regular drives/surprise checks and evolve a mechanism at national level to curb such malpractices and the action taken by the Government against the erring persons/dealers found involved therein, State/UT-wise; and
(d) whether the National Green Tribunal has recently directed the Central Pollution Control Boards, Petroleum Ministry and State Pollution Control Boards to conduct surprise inspection of petrol pumps in Delhi and NCR to check adulteration and if so, the details thereof and action taken by the Government thereon?

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)
(a) & (b) : Details of cases detected by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) namely, Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) related to under-measurement and adulteration at retail outlets during the last three years and current year (April-December, 2016) are annexed as Annexure-I.
Contd……2/-
- 2 -
In proven cases of under-measurement and adulteration, there is a provision to cancel the license in the Marketing Discipline Guidelines (MDG)/Dealership Agreement. OMCs have terminated 176 retail outlets for such irregularities during the last three years and current year (April – December, 2016). State/ OMC-wise detail for the said period is annexed as Annexure-II.
(c) : Public Sector OMCs undertake regular and surprise inspection of Retail Outlets and take action under the provisions of MDG and Dealership Agreements against the outlets found indulging in irregularities/malpractices. The MDG provides for termination of outlets in the first instance for serious malpractices and graded penalties for other malpractices/irregularities. The Motor Spirit and High Speed Diesel (Regulation of Supply, Distribution and Prevention of Malpractices) Order, 2005 issued by the Central Government under Essential Commodities Act, 1955 provides for punitive action also against malpractices such as adulteration. Several initiatives to prevent irregularities in Retail Outlets have been taken that include Automation of Retail Outlets, Third Party Certification of Retail outlets and Monitoring of movement of tank trucks through Global Positioning System (GPS). State/OMC-wise detail of inspections carried out at Retail Outlets during last three years and current year up to December, 2016 is annexed as Annexure-III.
(d) : In compliance of Order dated 14th September, 2016 of National Green Tribunal (NGT), Principal Bench, New Delhi in O.A. No.561 of 2015 filed by Cherub Singla Vs Union of India & Others, samples of petrol and diesel were collected from the petrol pumps of OMCs and vehicles (2/4 wheelers) located in Delhi and NCR. The samples so collected have been got tested from Fuel Testing Laboratory (FTL), Noida, U.P. Test Report of these samples received from FTL, Noida and the same has been submitted to the National Green Tribunal (NGT), Principal Bench, New Delhi.
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