Demand for quality

Demand for quality
G Manjusainath
With one of the highest vehicular population in the country, Bangalore is undoubtedly a big guzzler of petroleum products.

The recent hikes in fuel prices has thus hit the Bangalorean the hardest. The ordinary motorist on the road has not much choice but to pay more.

Yet, in that disturbing dig deeper into the pocket, the Bangalorean wonders whether all that money fetches him quality petrol. Through this CONSUMER series, Bangalore 360 Degrees does a reality check on that often tricky concept of quality, and whether slogans like “Pure for Sure” really mean pure, unadulterated fuel that powers everyday travel.

First, the facts: Bangalore consigns to smoke nearly 40,000 kilolitres of petrol and 50,000 kilolitres of diesel every month. In terms of metric tonnes, the petrol and diesel consumption of the city stands at 28,000 MT and 41,000 MT respectively. Thus the annual consumption of petrol stands somewhere around 5 lakh MT, while diesel consumption hovers around 6 lakh metric tonnes.

That kind of consumption obviously means a lot of money. Bangalore’s monthly expenditure on petrol is around Rs 22.8 crores while on diesel the expenditure stands somewhere around Rs 19.5 crores. Annually Bangaloreans burn petrol of Rs 275 crores whereas the cost of diesel burnt a year is around Rs 235 crores. The annual expenditure of fuel is thus a whopping Rs 510 crores !

Now, that is a whole lot of money. Time then, to check whether you get quality petrol for quality money. Here’s reason to doubt whether “quality” can be taken for granted: In the last three years, not less than eight petrol bunks attached to various oil companies were closed down for adulteration, as revealed by sources in the Food and Civil Supplies Department.

But closure does not always mean the bunks go out of business. As pointed out by a senior officer of the Indian Oil Company monitoring fuel quality, a petrol bunk was closed down on Bannerghatta road for selling inferior quality petrol three years ago. Today, the outlet is back peddling fuel albeit in a clandestine manner.

Surprisingly, even the oil firms find it tough to control such practices. Recalled an official: “Once our people went to stop him from selling petrol and were taking visuals and stills of the clandestinely running petrol bunk but the petrol dealer attacked them with his henchmen and wounded them seriously. Though we had reported the matter, so far nothing has happened and the business is still flourishing.”

Flourishing. Now, that also aptly describes the business of illegal sellers on the City’s outskirts and even within its dingy interiors. These sellers thrive where there are no regular petrol bunks around. Adulteration here implies mixing kerosene, honge oil or even thinner to petrol / diesel. People under compulsion buy petrol from these illicit sellers, despite knowing too well that the fuel is adulterated and can cause extensive damage to their vehicles.

NO ADULTERATION: IOC
Oil firms are however, quick to certify the purity of their products. Says an IOC official on condition of anonymity: “I can say confidently that the quality of petrol in Bangalore is very good. There is little room for adulteration and the petrol dealers will also not take risk by adulterating fuel because these days rules are very strict. We are constantly checking the quality of petrol and instantly cancel the dealership the moment we find traces of foreign elements.”

And why does he sound so confident. “Besides the flying squad of the oil companies, the department of food and civil supplies too conducts surprise inspection. Along with it, a third party agency has been set up by the ministry of petroleum, which carries Special Intensive Drive (SID),” the official explains.

You might still be wondering why you get more mileage from a particular petrol bunk and get much less in another. There are of course, no ready answers. Government officials would always contest that. Here’s what a senior officer in the Food and Civil Supplies Department has to say: “The quality of petrol is very high in Karnataka including Bangalore. People themselves have the right to check the quality of petrol using the hydrometer and thermometer, available at all the petrol bunks. So far we haven’t received any complaint either from our staff or from the public.”

But the moot point remains: Every official talks about the hydrometer. Yet, very few commuters appear to have used them to check the purity of petrol!