Marketing Discipline Guidelines (MDG) formulated and implemented by OMCs
for checking irregularities or malpractices at Retail Outlet (RO) Dealerships
The Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Rameswar Teli in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today informed that the Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have formulated and implemented Marketing Discipline Guidelines (MDG) for checking irregularities or malpractices at Retail Outlet (RO) Dealerships. Acton is taken in case of established irregularities against erring dealers as per MDG guidelines and the Dealership agreement. MDG guidelines are available at website: https://iocl.com/marketing-discipline-guidelines
The number of irregularities detected at Public Sector OMCs’ retail outlets during the last three years and current year (2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 and April-December, 2021) is as under:
| Irregularities/Malpractices | Numbers detected |
| Discrepancy in stock | 3152 |
| Suspected product adulteration | 110 |
| Overcharging | 610 |
| Unauthorised purchase/sale | 9 |
| Unauthorised fittings/Seals tampering | 353 |
| Others like non-maintenance of records, non-display of RSP, minor deviations etc. | 49680 |
| Total | 53914 |
Regular/Surprise inspections are carried out by OMCs’ officials periodically at the retail outlets to check irregularities/malpractices and action is taken as per the Marketing Discipline Guidelines and the Dealership Agreement.
OMCs have a system in place to check various types of malpractices and irregularities at their ROs. The important initiatives taken in this regard are as follows:
- Making available Filter Paper, Calibrated Density Equipment (Hydrometer/Thermometer) & 5 Liter Calibrated Measure at the Retail Outlets for checking quality & quantity of MS/HSD.
(ii) Conducting Regular / Surprise inspections at Retail Outlets by OMC Field Officers/ Senior Officers/Mobile labs throughout the country. In case of irregularities, action is taken as per the MDG and dealership agreement.
(iii) Creation of a separate Quality Assurance Cell (QAC) for carrying out inspections.
(iv) Drawing of samples from petrol pumps at random and sending for testing to authorized laboratories.
(v) Sealing of tankers before leaving company premises to protect against pilferage/adulteration en-route.
(vi) Installation of GPS to monitor the movement of Tank Trucks carrying MS / HSD.
(vii) Conducting Third-Party Audit of Retail Outlets by OMCs for effective monitoring and benchmarking.
(viii) Ongoing automation of Retail Outlets by OMCs which enable the real-time capture of the sales transactions and monitoring of tank stocks and receipts.
Disclaimer : This is an official press release by PIB.
