[Dr.Vikas]

Keeping all the blame-game aside, I would rather say, a Customer always has a choice to get his vehicle fueled at the bunk of his choice.

And also the dealers here aren't very happy to take such an extreme step of Nationwide Call for Strike. Any inconvenience to the customer is always regretted. Everybody knows, any such Business nowadays is customer-centric & nobody can take any kind of liberty to take anything for granted in a longer run.

I would like people to spare some time & to meet personally to any dealer of their own choice & have a thorough discussion. This, one can have his all sort of doubts easily cleared regarding the operations/ pressure/ responsibilities with respect to the earnings in the Petroleum business.
Otherwise, it's just like beating around the bush & nothing else.

Thanks,

[Doge]

I fully support this notion of increasing margin on petrol for dealers. My poor neighborhood pump owner has to do with a last generation Range Rover as his daily ride :(.
How about we increase the salary of the guy standing in a typical Delhi summer afternoon, filling air in the tyres of boiling cars?
From my personal experience, the oil industry is full of goons and criminals and I have no doubt that they would get away with these demands as well.

[dailydriver]

Will leave aside the good dealer-bad dealer part because I think some things are never supposed to change for the better and getting conned once a week while trying to simultaneously keep an eye each on the rolling numbers and the flowing liquid is a chore that all true blue Indians have got used to. Over a span of 25 years of fuel purchase, I have realised that there is no such thing called "correct quantity/quality" of fuel. From the days when I used to stand in a long queue in front of the kerosene cart beside the PDS shop, I have always been cheated. What sets an honest dealer apart is the quantum of cheating. So, he who cheats the least is the most honest. A fish, while living in water, is bound to drink a few quarts every now and then .

Now, being honest or not has nothing to do with the proposed strike. When negotiations fail, non cooperation is the most logical means of escalation. I wish the dealers all success as that would mean an increase in their on-record income and disincentivize their siphoning acts. Having said that, the dealers themselves are at times hoodwinked by their workers. Either ways, the customer is the ultimate loser.

[Klub Class]

ANI reports that the strike has been called off.



Link to the Tweet : https://twitter.com/ANI/status/918069609122578432

[lucifer1881]

Originally Posted by Dr.Vikas

...We often observe public sector workers, Bankers, Govt employees etc calling for a strike all of a sudden anytime...

No. All public sector strikes have notices provided in advance. Either way, you are not doing a favour by providing prior notification.

Originally Posted by Dr.Vikas

Last year, it was just a black out for 15 min only & the proposed agitation was then rolled back after having received the MOU dated 4th Nov.16, duly signed by the hierarchy from all the 3 Govt. OMCs.

In layman's terms, this is called blackmail. It usually achieves the short term objectives but eventually it causes fatigue. If this happens often, then people just stop caring about your cause.

Originally Posted by Dr.Vikas

OMCs have started collecting their LFR (License Fee Recovery) charges with higher rates after the latest Revision of Dealer Margin. LFR which was some 37 paise per ltr has been increased by 11 folds now, ultimately limiting the actual margin to 2.84 ₹ for Petrol & 1.89 ₹ for Diesel.

Can petrol pump operators share their balance sheet with the public? This will let us know if you really lose money or simply make a hullabaloo to make more money. If you are so concerned about the public then be transparent too.

Originally Posted by Dr.Vikas

Also with this 'revised' margin, OMCs under pressure from MoPNG, are asking the Dealers to pay the salaries to their workers in accordance with Minimum wages act. This factor was not considered while formulating the Margin & interestingly, OMCs have denied to give any Break-up of the Dealer Margin, even when asked for under RTI.

1. So you are somehow trying to justify not paying salaries as per the minimum wages act? This is downright illegal and exploitative.
2. If salaries are such a huge component of your expenses, then what stops you from setting up self-service fuel dispensers? If not all, at least a sizable population would shift to these and bring down your requirement of workforce.

There are innovative ways to solve a problem. Simply asking to increase margin every time is regressive.

Originally Posted by Dr.Vikas

The toilets on retail outlets are now declared as 'Public Toilets' under the Swaccha Bharat abhiyan. Dealers never opposed the cause & are ready to support the movement wholeheartedly, but the penalties proposed for 'finding' a toilet 'unclean' are not at all justifiable/ reasonable.

Public toilet or not, it is always necessary to keep toilets clean. Is anyone stopping you from setting up a Sulabh type payment based toilet? Again, where is the innovation?

Originally Posted by Dr.Vikas

Last year, OMCs had signed an agreement to fulfill the demands of Dealer Associations, but eventually turned down from their stand & have started to neglect all the communications made thereafter with respect to the same...

Refer to my note on fatigue above. It was bound to happen.

Originally Posted by Dr.Vikas

Please go through this News & just try to imagine the condition of the toilets provided at any public place in the country. Don't forget, there are paid workers appointed to clean the public toilets & still nobody cares about the condition, no question arises of imposing penalties there.

So? Just because your neighbour runs a dirty establishment, it justifies that you do too?

[prakash_ajp]

Originally Posted by lucifer1881

1. If salaries are such a huge component of your expenses, then what stops you from setting up self-service fuel dispensers? If not all, at least a sizable population would shift to these and bring down your requirement of workforce.

You really think these things will work here in India? Might take another few decades. First let us make people drive on the right side of roads before asking them to fill up their fuel themselves, shall we?

This is between the retailers and the government and people are just collateral damage. Yes, it is a nuisance but people are much more resilient than to be affected by this.

I don't really have a side in this, but I find the truckers strike much more reasonable.

[pgsagar]

But, I'm sure not all dealers indulge in malpractices. Also, in most cases, it's the attendants who "fix" the fuel dispensers. Next, I see almost everyone here blasting the dealers but why is no one suggesting we demand balance sheets from real mafia, OMC and greedy State and Central Govts, too, who are pocketing huuuuge money by way of super-inflated taxes. A fuel-pump owner once told me their margins are ridiculously low, unless he is lieing.

Disclaimer: I'm not a Fuel Pump owner, nor has any stake in anyone's business.

[freedom]

No one runs a bussiness as charity. If margins are too low then why do dealers not stop the operation and move on to other bussiness?

[Dr.Vikas]

If margins are too low then why do dealers not stop the operation and move on to other bussiness?

Because there is no any Exit policy available till date. However, it's also one of the concerns often surface during the Dealer meets.

Most of the outlets are OWNED by the OMCs. Once the piece of land is leased & is handed over to Oil company, the landlord is entitled to receive just few thousand Rs as monthly Rent (irrespective of the market rate) & the dealership.
All the infrastructure therein belongs to the company & thus company then starts recovering their investment amount as License Fee from the dealer.

This LFR amount as I mentioned earlier, was just few paise per kl in the past has been increased by 11 folds by the OMCs since Aug 17. Surprisingly, there hasn't been any change in the Rent amount to be paid to the dealers.

Now, some facts about the Dispensing Units, which are owned & are duly maintained by the OMCs itsef.

Not many of the Common people know anything about the procedure of DU Calibration, still they go on blaming the dealers only for any damn thing they come across at the outlets.

I agree, there could be some mischievous people involved in malpractice, but the number is not that high as predicted by our fellow good friends over here & out there in the society also.

In Maharashtra, about 200 dealers out of 4.5k (that comes to 4%) are listed for misappropriations & tampering of the machines.

Here, I would like to reiterate, DUs are the property of OMCs & all the maintainance is also done by OMCs. The DU Calibration is performed annually by Weights & Measures Inspector from Legal Metrology Dept along with the technician/ Service engineer of DU manufacturer company. Then the units are sealed properly & handed over to the dealer. Don't forget, the company Sales Officer is supposed to inspect all this at least once in every 3 months.

Our state association FAMPEDA has raised many issues with the concerned authorities so as to kerb the malpractices in Petroleum business.

1. A detailed audit report duly signed by Co Officer, Service engineer & the dealer is produced ahead of DU Calibration everytime. Glad to inform you that it's observed only in Maharashtra till date.

2. Use of a 5 ltr Glass measure in stead of the regular brass/ metal Jar for quality check ups & Calibration is recommended & soon will be approved by the Controller, Legal Metrology.

3. Use of a Flow meter while decantation of products from tank lorry is also recommended since long, but still pending without any final decision.

4. I guess, OMCs would hardly be ready to discuss on the Exit policy. However, this would surely surface sooner or later.


Now, my suggestion to those who have experienced either short-changing of fuel or quality related issues at any retail outlet they visit-

1. In case if you suspect short-changing of fuel, ask for Quantity Check up with calibrated 5 ltr measure. Get the delivery checked at least twice, once with preset & then without preset. Remember, it's not an obligatory service, but mandatory for the dealer.

2. In case of suspected adulteration (which is very uncommon these days), ask for quality check up.
This test is carried out-
a. by using Whatman filter paper for Physical contamination &
b. by checking the density of the product for Chemical contamination.
You can find the reference density which is noted daily on a display board & in the density register also.
It hardly takes 5 minutes for the test.

3. In case of any dispute/ non cooperation by the attendant staff, you may contact the dealer or the Sales Officer whose names & contact numbers are displayed at the Sales room.

4. Alternatively, you may ask for the complaint book & note down your complaint in detail.

Hope, you won't be 'cheated' easily now whenever you visit the bunk for fueling next time..


Finally, may I ask here,
1. How many of you have ever asked for & also have performed the Q & Q check up tests at outlets, in case of having any doubt of being cheated ??
2. Has anybody ever escalated any complaint for any such incident of so-called 'cheating'?


My observation-
Consumer Rights is one thing that is discussed so often, but whenever it comes to Responsibilities, unfortunately, nobody cares.

People have a lot of time to spend on the Social media, but they are always seen in hurry in Social Life.

Thanks,

[condor]

Originally Posted by Dr.Vikas

Glad to inform you that it's observed only in Maharashtra till date.

I would say, " Sad to inform you, but it's observed only in MH till date."

1. How many of you have ever asked for & also have performed the Q & Q check up tests at outlets, in case of having any doubt of being cheated ??

General practice - stick to specific bunks, picked over time. Selection based on different parameters, but that is not part of this discussion.

[sleepyhead148]

So as of today morning, the strike is called off. Here's a link to the article; https://scroll.in/latest/853806/petr...ionwide-strike

[Dr.Vikas]

I would say, " Sad to inform you, but it's observed only in MH till date."

Agreed.. 👍

By the way, here's the Audit report format for reference.

This is my humble attempt to enlighten people so as to let them rethink before making any blanket statement about RO operations due to lack of adequate knowledge.

Thanks,

[condor]

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/jal...ne/489441.html

Dirty toilets: Owners of filling stations to pay Rs 25,000 fine