After reports that filling stations are pilfering petrol by using electronic chips surfaced in Uttar Pradesh recently, the Weights and Measures Department woke up from deep slumber and conducted raids on four filling stations in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.
A Weight and Measures Department official said the Director ordered them to conduct checks on all the petrol pumps in the State to find out if they were dispensing the right quantity of fuel to the customers or duping them by tampering the dispensing machines. So, they have formed four squads to conduct checks.
On the day, they checked the dispensing machines of four petrol pumps in Khandagiri and later in Chandaka areas in association with the officials of the oil marketing companies. But till now they have found no aberrations, he claimed.
The official further said the department checks genuineness of machines only through the weight of fuel dispensed in their standard measuring container. “If the machine is yielding correctly, it doesn’t give a chance of suspicion.”
However, customers said a crackdown should be launched on the lines of Uttar Pradesh and the fuel outlets found guilty should be sealed instead of these cosmetic checks.
It may be mentioned that dozens of fuel pumps were sealed in lucknow in Uttar Pradesh after the STF busted a statewide racket of pump owners using remote-controlled electronic chip in their dispensing machines to dupe customers. Electronic chips were used at several petrol pumps to pilfer 5 per cent (50 Ml) fuel even as the customers paid for the complete amount. By that way the petrol pump owner made a profit of nearly Rs3.50 per litre at the rate of Rs70 per litre. Though it might sound less to the ear, if a petrol pump sells 1,000 litres of fuel the owner makes a cool profit of Rs3,500 at the end of the day.