With prices of petroleum products rising, pilferage by the bunk owners has become a very profitable business. Albeit, its us, the unsuspecting and largely ignorant customers, who have to contribute generously to their insatiable appetite for profits from such clandestine business.
How do we ensure the quality and quantity being dispensed at the fuel bunks?
*Quality
*Outlets are required to keep instruments for checking the quality. The only two concerns are adulteration with kerosene and presence of water and other impurities.
1. Kerosene - It is generally sold in market with dye on blue colour. Adulteration would change the colour of the main product which is either petrol or diesel. Another method is by use of filter paper. Adulterated petrol if dropped on filter paper, retains the slow evaporating kerosene after 1 minute and hence the adulteration is detected. The smell of kerosene is conspicuously different than of petrol.
2. Water and other impurities. By filter paper and water detection paste. The water detection paste turns into pink from blue, it water is present in the fuel.
Unfortunately, we as consumers don’t check the quality and hence, the bunk owners carry on their "business" shamelessly, unchecked.
Quantity
The fuel dispensers now have digital displays. These displays are connected to rotating disc mechanism, which have small holes through which light from LED passes. On other side is a photoelectric cell, which detects the lights signal from the small perforations once the disc rotates. The photoelectric cell generates one pulse from each perforations and hence these account the unit quantity of fuel dispensed. By splitting small perforations into two, or making extra peforations on the disc, extra reading can be shown on the digital LED display.
To prevent such tampering, the metered dispensers are sealed by the trade companies like IOCL, BPCL etc. Hence, these should be checked, if one suspects, short dispensing. Moreover, the dispensed quantity can be checked against the standard measures kept at the fuel bunks. These are usually one litre measures.
Otherwise, one can follow following guidelines.
Fill fuel from reputed bunks only.
The fuel outlet should preferably be within the heart of city and should have large turnover.
Fill in always large quantity rather than small quantities frequently.
Keep an eye on the meter. Ensure figures are zero before dispensing start.
Report if one detects pilferage, adulteration or poor quality. Report to marketing managers of regions. You voice will help others.