Petrol pumps in Uttar Pradesh will be inspected by a team of public sector oil marketing companies, Uttar Pradesh Police Special Task Force and the State government’s Weights & Measure Department for discrepancies.

This move follows the recent UP STF crackdown on retailers after unearthing a racket of discrepancy of delivery of fuel at petrol stations in Lucknow.

Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State Petroleum and Natural Gas, said, “Those dealers found violating the Marketing Discipline Guidelines (MDG) will face strict action mounting to even termination of licences.”

Pradhan’s statement comes after the UP STF arrested 23 people and unearthed a racket where retail outlets were projecting a higher fuel dispensation than the amount actually doled out. This was possible due to the installation of electronic chips inside the fuel dispensing unit. These chips were allegedly remote controlled by the petrol pump dealers.

An oil marketing company official told BusinessLine that the reduced delivery of fuel was not possible without a collusion between Uttar Pradesh government’s Weights & Measure Department officials and dealers.

He said, “The measures are calibrated every year. It seems that the tampering chips were installed during the annual calibration with the consent of some Weights & Measure Department officials. The seals were found intact when the raids were conducted.”

The UP STF had carried out raids at 11 petrol pumps on specific information regarding tampering with fuel calibration by use of electronic chips.

Of these, electronic chips were found at nine fuel stations, three of which belong to Indian Oil and six belong to Bharat Petroleum.