[RJK]

Originally Posted by meisteramg

As a dealer of IOC and BPCL retail outlets(RO) for the past 40 years, few reason's RO's are closing down are a

Interesting. Probably that's why dealers adulterate or at least used to adulterate fuel rampantly. Not saying you did but a lot of them did.

Understand that fuel is stored in the underground bunk and dispensers are connected to it. In case of shutting down, what happens to the bunker(?) I'm sure it's heavy gauge steel installed below the ground, right?

[salluks]

Originally Posted by SoumenD

In Bangalore I see the opposite. New fuel stations are opening up every 3-4 months atleast in South Bangalore. Now with Maruti switching to CNG bigtime and all cabs(except Innovas) using it, CNG stations are also coming up thick and fast. Even saw a few new petrol stations opening up like Nayara, HP etc.

Might be a Chennai specific phenomena.

This is absolutely not true unless you live in "outer areas'. Central Bangalore, used to have at least 6+ stations within walking distance from brigade road. now there's 1-2 at best. In fact there isn't a single petrol station on the way to the airport all the way from Cauvery theatre near Mekhri circle( which is more than 30 kms away)

[meisteramg]

Look as far as adulteration is concerned,it's a chain which starts the moment the fuel tanker leaves the depot after loading the fuel and this ends up going up to the dealer. When a tanker is loaded at the depot there is a margin for evaporation loss fixed by the OMC(Oil Marketing Companies). This is different for petrol and diesel based on their respective densities.When this tanker reaches the dealer and if the variation is above the prescribed limit, it indicates theft by the driver in transit. While the OMC's try to provide theft proof locks with seals, few Indians are evil geniuses who work their way around to siphon off fuel. If this happens as per OMC's SOP the dealer should not decant/unload the product and inform the same to the OMC. Now this is where it gets interesting.. Once the dealer does this,things are at a standstill, dealer is losing sale on an hourly basis waiting for the OMC to investigate and come up with a solution for which there's no time limit. The OMC send the fuel only after getting the payment in advance so now the dealer has paid for a quantity he did not receive, dealer is losing sale waiting for the OMC to resolve this issue.The tanker driver starts to throw a fit as he has other deliveries to cater to all resulting the dealer getting screwed. So when dealers resort to malpractices it is not entirely the dealers fault,there are a whole lot of factors involved,one of the beneficiaries are OMC officials who expect free fuel top up when they come for inspections. The police patrols expect free fuel and have a fixed quota every month which if not catered to start harassing the staff. As far as the the storage tanks are concerned they can last for a very long time. At the time of shifting/closure of RO balance fuel in tanks can be pumped out after getting clearance from the Company. All said and done there is no justification for ANY malpractice from the dealers irrespective of the environment he operates in and as far as my RO is concerned happy to say that i have never been accused for short supply,adulteration,hoarding,selling in black etc etc in all of over 40 years,touchwood and mine is the only RO in my area of operation where we don't entertain free fuel to either the OMC officials or the police. This of course requires a little bit of political pull.