[thirdmainroad]

Been meaning to do a filter paper and quantity check at the IOC petrol bunk I frequent. Got around to doing it today. I went in with guns blazing, expecting to face resistance for asking to do so. To my surprise they immediately agreed and the pump attendant came back with the manager, a filter paper and a 5 liter can in no time. The manager and the attendants were really quite excited and happy that I had asked for the test and went about the testing process.

I tested on XP95, which I usually fill. The filter paper test seemed to pass with flying colours - there was not even an inkling of a stain on the paper. The next test, the 5 liter test also passed with flying colours and the quantity touched the five liter mark to the dot!

The manager then requested they take a photo of me getting the tests done. He lamented that not enough people ask for the test, and even when they request customers to let them test in front of them, customers run away saying they are in a hurry.

As Team BHPians - we do represent a bit of the elite - tech savvy, educated, can I request all of you to do these tests once in a while as responsible citizens?

That said, the manager of the bunk I tested at told me about how difficult it has become for retail outlets to cheat with quality and quantity as IOC has a precise online monitoring system now and they are ensuring that even remote stations are hooked up to the system. He also said that IOC has very frequent surprise checks - infact they had been subjected to two tests in one week very recently.

Bunk where I had tested - IOC bunk at Vettuvankeni, next to SBI bank, opposite Buhari, Chennai, ECR.

I am now keen to test at more pumps, especially on the highway!

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by thirdmainroad

That said, the manager of the bunk I tested at told me about how difficult it has become for retail outlets to cheat with quality and quantity as IOC has a precise online monitoring system now and they are ensuring that even remote stations are hooked up to the system. He also said that IOC has very frequent surprise checks - infact they had been subjected to two tests in one week very recently.

True. The entire system is automated and is monitored remotely, and there really isn't much scope for dealers to indulge in malpractice. At the same time, there can be genuine issues like water seperation from ethanol blended petrol.

[vigsom]

Originally Posted by thirdmainroad

they immediately agreed and the pump attendant came back with the manager, a filter paper and a 5 liter can in no time

I've done a filter paper test once in Trichy in the 80s, but it wasn't until 2021-22 that I decided to do a can test, this time in Vadodara. I'd normally fill at a leading BPCL outlet in Alkapuri and never had complaints until that day when the pump was dispensing at approx. 20% of its normal rate because of some issue related to power supply. After I filled the typical quantity and left, I realized that the gauge hadn't responded proportionately. I say this 'coz I'd fill the same quantity at the same gauge level and knew how much the gauge should rise.

I returned after a 2km drive to tell them this in their office. The staff there were giving me the usual explanation about their Q&Q being perfect and that the gauge on my car was defective. I told them to reserve their intelligent judgements to themselves and asked to see the owner. He was a little more understanding and assured me there was no issue with their dispensing mechanism even at the lower rate. I however asked for five liters in their standard measure and told him I was willing to pay for that. He readily agreed and said that I needn't take those five liters. By that time, the dispensing was back to over half the normal rate, and although the can didn't take the full five liters (was probably short by approx. 200ml or so), I didn't take the case forward and left, realizing that it wasn't my day. I continued to visit the bunk thereafter and never had any issues, but that batch that I'd filled that day gave me approx. 10% lower range - same driver, same vehicle, same quantity, same traffic conditions. There definitely was some problem in dispensing/calibration but it wasn't my day so I couldn't prove it.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by thirdmainroad

The manager and the attendants were really quite excited and happy that I had asked for the test and went about the testing process.

Awesome! That itself is an indicator that no funny stuff is going on at that petrol station.

Originally Posted by thirdmainroad

He also said that IOC has very frequent surprise checks - infact they had been subjected to two tests in one week very recently.

Fantastic to hear! Kudos to IOC for putting a system in place that works. Will be more confident about filling at IOC stations in the future.

Thanks for sharing!

[TejasV]

SCAM ALERT: I know a team that does audit for company owned company operated (COCO) pumps and they say the local managements have become innovative in how the dupe - and its never by adulteration. They do it by reducing the amount of fuel dispensed by the machine. And they do not reduce fuel dispensing rates for for round figure litres.. like say 1 litre or 5 litres which you can fill in a bottle or can and check.

What they apparently do is to calibrate for lesser fuel dispensation for popular round figures of payment like Rs.1000 or Rs.500 etc. So instead of getting petrol worth Rs.1000 the machine dispenses maybe Rs.900 worth of fuel only and one way to overcome it is to pick an odd price like Rs.1550 worth of fuel or ask for exact number of litres worth of fuel it seems.

I think it is true as I was getting lower mileage when I filled for Rs.3000 in my car but didn't see a drop when I did a tankful.

PS: And they are always willing to test for purity or quantity with the one litre empty water bottle they have - so I think the modus operandi that the audit team has shared has some merit.

[Mustang_Boss]

Originally Posted by vigsom

I returned after a 2km drive to tell them this in their office. .....

that day gave me approx. 10% lower range - same driver, same vehicle, same quantity, same traffic conditions. There definitely was some problem in dispensing/calibration but it wasn't my day so I couldn't prove it.

I have learned one thing in life. The one who decides to do wrong things, who is slightly educated, will always plan ahead and will have some exit routes in case of an emergency.
We will not be able to catch the guy unless we plan ahead.

After many such incidents, i switched to government operated bunks & COCO's. Even for highway drives, i get the tank filled till the brim while i start and stick to private brands on highways. [Nayara, Reliance, Shell, Essar]

[gargville]

Originally Posted by TejasV

SCAM ALERT: I know a team that does audit for company owned company operated (COCO) pumps and they say the local managements have become innovative in how the dupe - and its never by adulteration. They do it by reducing the amount of fuel dispensed by the machine. And they do not reduce fuel dispensing rates for for round figure litres.. like say 1 litre or 5 litres which you can fill in a bottle or can and check....

Sorry to say this is not true.

The Dispensing units installed in petrol pumps don't work like this.
The more volume a quantity check is done more chances of tracking short delivery is there.
That's why the quantity check is done in 5 litres not 1 litre jar.
In addition to this no machine is perfect so there is a permissible margin of plus and minus 25ml per 5 litre allowed and there will be difference in every dispensing units.

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

True. The entire system is automated and is monitored remotely, and there really isn't much scope for dealers to indulge in malpractice. At the same time, there can be genuine issues like water seperation from ethanol blended petrol.

Shreyans rightly mentioned that the current biggest problem is proper blending of ethanol.

In our country we are forced to buy a single product. Rather than offering normal and ethanol products side by side our government decided to force ethanol blended fuel.


Almost all petrol pump in India is automated to some extent.
There are phases and levels of automation.
The very basic automation includes real time fetching of following data from petrol pump to company cloud networks:

• level of fuel in underground tanks, also tracks decantation (unloading of fuel)
• every fuel sale transaction from dispensing units which includes the preset values, dispensed values.
• Auto locking of sales when tanker is unloading fuel and when there is low fuel in tank.

All these pumps cannot run if their automation system fails.

[ajayclicks]

Originally Posted by TejasV

So instead of getting petrol worth Rs.1000 the machine dispenses maybe Rs.900 worth of fuel only and one way to overcome it is to pick an odd price like Rs.1550 worth of fuel or ask for exact number of litres worth of fuel it seems.

So we should be safe with a full tank and auto-cutoff method for cars?

[TejasV]

Originally Posted by ajayclicks

So we should be safe with a full tank and auto-cutoff method for cars?

Has worked for me in terms of getting consistent mileage. But it could be a one off with all the automation that could be happening at most pumps as mentioned above.

[ransomware]

I recently witnessed this test in BPCL COCO on Mumbai-Pune expressway.

But in my case, the attendants asked me to witness this test without me asking for it. They did the test asked me to sign one sheet and take a photo with the filled 5 litre can and attendant.

They told me they are actually doing this with ALL customers on that day.

[Thilak29]

I am glad you tried to test and share results. What happens to this dispensed fuel? Goes back to tank?

[Silver Knight]

Originally Posted by TejasV

SCAM ALERT: I know a team that does audit for company owned company operated (COCO) pumps and they say the local managements have become innovative in how the dupe - and its never by adulteration. They do it by reducing the amount of fuel dispensed by the machine. And they do not reduce fuel dispensing rates for for round figure litres.. like say 1 litre or 5 litres which you can fill in a bottle or can and check.

What they apparently do is to calibrate for lesser fuel dispensation for popular round figures of payment like Rs.1000 or Rs.500 etc. So instead of getting petrol worth Rs.1000 the machine dispenses maybe Rs.900 worth of fuel only and one way to overcome it is to pick an odd price like Rs.1550 worth of fuel or ask for exact number of litres worth of fuel it seems.

I think it is true as I was getting lower mileage when I filled for Rs.3000 in my car but didn't see a drop when I did a tankful.

PS: And they are always willing to test for purity or quantity with the one litre empty water bottle they have - so I think the modus operandi that the audit team has shared has some merit.

That is totally wrong information. I am into the fuel business. The dispensing machines are calibrated for 5 litres. So, basically for 1 litre you get 1/5th of the 5 litres and for 100 litres you get 20 times 5 litres. Machines cannot be calibrated to give less or more quantity for various values.
So if you calibrate the machine to dispense 4 litres when the meter is set for 5 litres you will get 20% less quantity for any set values. When the meter displays 100 litres you would have received 80 litres or for 1 litre displayed on the meter, you will get 800 ml of actual fuel.

[NewUser123]

I thought the modern meters also compensate for variance in temperature. So you will get exactly 5 litres only if the fuel temperature is 23C. Any appreciably higher or lower temperatures will get varying amounts of fuel. I.e. higher volume for higher temperature and lower volume for lower temperature.

Earlier I used to try to fill fuel early in the morning to take advantage of lower temperature of the fuel ��

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

True. The entire system is automated and is monitored remotely, and there really isn't much scope for dealers to indulge in malpractice. At the same time, there can be genuine issues like water seperation from ethanol blended petrol.

Just out of interest, could you elaborate on what it is they are monitoring remotely?

Jeroen

[thirdmainroad]

Originally Posted by Thilak29

I am glad you tried to test and share results. What happens to this dispensed fuel? Goes back to tank?

I offered to pay for it and have it put in my car, but they refused and put it back into their tank - apparently that’s what they are supposed to do.

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Just out of interest, could you elaborate on what it is they are monitoring remotely? Jeroen

They can monitor amount of fuel that goes into their tanks and amount of fuel dispensed by the pumps. They can also monitor density of fuel and also if the pumps have been opened. The manager said something about pumps now coming with OTPs generated by IOC for further checking, but I missed that a bit.

But there’s a story someone who once long told me - a friend of my father in the mid 90s had imported a Ferrari, and couldn’t find fuel with his octane rating. He went to one of the petrol companies- I think it was HP if I remember right and asked for higher octane rating fuel. They told him they would supply, but not 10 liters or 100 liters but a tankful. So he dug up his garden and made it into a petrol pump just for himself. And I remember him telling us one evening that the tankers were adulterating fuel between the refinery and his house. He was talking about how that’s the norm for adulterating as he had found out - the petrol stations tie up and collude with the tanker dudes and it’s all adulterated/ mixed before it even actual reaches a petrol pump. I wonder what steps they are in place now to stop that. Can’t ask the friend of my father but - he shortly after that talk went too fast on the ECR, swerved to avoid a dog and his beloved Ferrari went up in flames - making his private petrol pump redundant!