Fuel dispensers to soon be password protected

Fuel dispensers on all petrol pumps across the country will soon be password protected. This decision, which was taken at a meeting of government officials, oil marketers and equipment manufacturers, is aimed to prevent manipulation of electronic systems of fuel dispensing machines.

Various fuel pumps in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra were recently found to be dispensing less fuel than what was shown on the display. This was done by manipulating a device called pulsar card, which is responsible for measuring the amount of fuel being dispensed. Under the current arrangement, pulsar card of every fuel dispenser is mechanically sealed by the legal metrology department. However, fuel pump owners are often seen to have manipulated the pulsar card by using a pulse frequency enhancer chip. This chip, which costs around Rs. 50,000, can allow pump owners to cut dispensing volume by around 50-70 ml for every 1 litre of fuel, and thus cheat motorists of around Rs. 12-15 lakh every month.

In order to avoid such manipulations, the legal metrology department will soon start electronically sealing the fuel dispensers with a password. The legal metrology rules already allow e-sealing of pulsar cards, and thus the process can begin from immediate effect. It is worth noting that e-sealing will be used over and above the current process of mechanical sealing.

Source: ET Auto