Team-BHP - Oil Ministry: To beat lines at Petrol Pumps, home delivery being considered

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The government is considering a plan for home delivery of petrol and diesel to consumers if they make a pre-booking to cut queues at fuel stations, the Oil Ministry said on Twitter on Friday. About 350 million people come to fuel stations every day, it said.

"Options being explored where petro products may be door delivered to consumers on pre booking... This would help consumers avoid spending excessive time and long queues at fuel stations," the ministry said.

http://profit.ndtv.com/news/economy/...nistry-1684320

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Originally Posted by darklord (Post 4187023)

http://profit.ndtv.com/news/economy/...nistry-1684320

Yes read about the proposal in a national daily today. At first glance the proposal seems to be quite public friendly but a close analysis reveals that it is fraught with following risks:

1. It would be quite risky to deliver petrol directly at customers place as it being a highly inflammable commodity.

2. Even if fool proof measures are taken ensuring safe delivery, still then it won't be wise to keep the fuel stored at home even for a short duration.

3. Delivering correct quantity of fuel would a issue because to ensure that, the petrol pump dealers would have to invest in jerry cans of different capacities, which would be quite impractical as the amount of fuel demanded would vary from customer to customer. Or rather the customer would be forced to buy a minimum quantity of fuel say 5 liters even if he requires only say 2 or 3 liters.

4. As the delivery would cost a substantial sum of money, therefore sooner or later the dealers would feel the pinch and hence they may start pressing for a minimum delivery charge and subsequently will be at loggerheads with the government over the issue.

To conclude, in a vast and populated country like India the implementation of this scheme is going to be quite difficult.

There is a Kannada saying that talks about a jobless man using his work tools on his son's posterior. The proposal to home deliver petrol and diesel is a similar move and seems nothing more than a desperate attempt to remain in the headlines. Does anybody know of such a practice being prevalent in any other country?

1. Would petrol/diesel be accompanied by a tyre inflator/pressure guage?

2. Unless the jerry cans are sealed like the petrol tankers with a lock that requires two keys to open, and one of the keys remains with the customer and the other at the petrol pump, adulteration is a given. You pay for 5l of petrol and you may end up receiving a cocktail of fuels.

3. How do they plan to transport a full tank of fuel for the Fortuners, Hexas and the Safaris?

4. Would petrol/diesel be home delivered using push cart mounted mini tankers - like the ones used to dispense kerosene a decade ago?

5. Would the delivery boy have to take mandatory lessons from his LPG counterpart on how to fleece the customers by extracting 30-50 bucks extra?

Contrary to popular opinion, I'm kinda positive towards this. But only on one condition. Deliveries should be in very limited quantities only.

2 cases :
• Say I'm stranded somewhere without any petrol station nearby. I'd welcome fuel delivery very much.

Or what if I'm home and my car doesn't have enough fuel to go to the petrol station 5kms away?

• Scooters/Bikes : 1-2 litre fuel is enough for the grocery runs and doesn't require to go stand in line at the station.

Hence, in these cases it's sensible. Hoping for filling up your large SUV's humongous tank is plain stupid.

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Originally Posted by smartcat (Post 4187065)

Arsonist friendly move by the Government if they go ahead with this. I saw the tweet actually - it says "home delivery of petroleum products". I wonder if the ministry means products like vaseline petroleum jelly?

Couldn't agree more. With fuel being home delivered, it would be a easy run for all the anti social elements and troublemakers, who now will have a explosive commodity at their disposal to further their nefarious designs. In such a scenario the use of Molotov Cocktail by arsonists will be a piece of cake. Moreover with fuel being stored in households, the entire residential belts of the towns and cities would become a ticking time bomb.

A proposition like this in a country like India is just a bad idea.
Here's my few cents on where things could go wrong if this idea sees the light of the day-

1) Purity- Unlike food and other home delivered goods one cannot find out if the fuel delivered will be as pure and unmixed. Blackmarketeers can find ways to switch jerrycans or replace half the fuel in the can with other liquids to make it full.

2) Storage- The government cannot take responsibility of the fuel once delivered. It won't be long till people start hoarding fuel barrels!

3) Safety- Safety and Fire Hazard while transporting the fuel to the customer.

4) Theft- If they start delivering fuel in mini tankers there is always a chance of grand theft auto considering the value of fuel.

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Originally Posted by The Brutailer (Post 4187169)

Or what if I'm home and my car doesn't have enough fuel to go to the petrol station 5kms away?

This is the only probable situation when this home delivery would work. But again there are ifs and buts. Will the delivery of fuel be quick enough? And would the quality be atleast at par with the quality we get in fuel stations?

How will the Safety and Quality aspects be ensured? I presume, the fuel would be packed in standard size containers and delivered by the delivery boys from the nearest fuel station (just like Pizza delivery).

If the filling and packing is done directly by Fuel Company (HPCL / BPCL/ Shell /IOC etc), the quality aspects would be taken care of. But, if the packing is left to the fuel stations, it might become a nightmare. One also needs to think how the fuel from the container can be transferred to the vehicle without spills and evaporation and without compromising safety (all with reference to filling at fuel stations).

I would prefer to wait in the queue and fill my vehicle thereby saving on the extra home delivery charges and also be assured of the quality and safety.

I have not heard of this in any country, at least not not for retail customers and not officially.

What is the need for it, I saw queues being mentioned as one of the reasons. Except when there is a shortage or price rise next day I have not seen any major queues. Maybe it is not meant for retail customers and only for industrial units or bulk users where it can be delivered in drums.

If it is for retail customers it is damn right stupid.

Why isn't it possible that a tanker, similar to the one that delivers fuel to the pumps, be modified to have a dispenser with meter, etc. This could theoritically visit specific areas at specific times for everyone there to fill up - directly into their vehicles as in a fuel bunk. Sort of like a portable fuel station. Would work in densely populated areas.

A portable fuel pump made by fixing a dispenser to a tanker would make this possible. It would be a boon in difficult areas also. I can see following advantages of this approach:

- Most of Himachal's highways (another classic example being the Manali - Leh highway) do not have a bunk for long stretches. Stationing such tankers at places like popular eateries on the way or every 50 Kms or so will be a boon.

- Villages, where small kirana shops sell petrol filled in half-litre bottles for Rs.50 or so, will get access to fuel at actual prices and also the illegal/unsafe storage of fuel can be curbed.

- New employment opportunities with less investment as compared to setting up a petrol pump.

This will probably work in a country where everything runs systematically. But in a country like India where everyone is trying to make quick buck, this is not going to be a good experience. No Thank you.

Additionally, transporting these highly inflammable materials through the household areas which are thickly populated coupled with the inherent ignorance of our people towards safety is a major risk.