Police arrests Manager of Petrol Pump after customers allege tempering in machine

Sept. 1: Serious allegations were levied upon a petrol pump located at Sonabarighat in Cachar district for tempering the kiosk. On Wednesday, a customer went to South Krishnapur Bharat Petroleum Pump at Sonabarighat and asked to fill petrol for an amount of Rs.200. As his motorbike already had petrol in its tank, so petrol of only Rs.50 was poured by the staff on duty. The customer then asked the man to give petrol of the rest amount in a 2 litres bottle.

Narrating the incident, the youth who came to fill petrol said, “The staff refused to give me the remaining petrol worth Rs.150 in the bottle which I gave them. After much persuasion, when the staff did not agree to it, then I managed a jar in which I was given petrol worth Rs.150 which would be more than 1.5 litres. On reaching home, I began to pour the petrol in a 1 litre bottle and I was surprised to find that the petrol was less than a litre. I then went back to the petrol pump and said this to the staff. He started quarreling and refused to admit that he gave me less petrol. What was more surprising is that the meter reading in the kiosk showed Rs.200 when the staff poured petrol in the jar. I was certain that the machine has been tampered.”

“Meanwhile, many people also gathered there hearing the commotion. It was then that in front of all, the petrol in my bottle was measured in a measuring flask possessed by the pump. To the surprise of all, it was found that the bottle contained only 900 ml of petrol instead of around 1.5 litres. The Manager of the pump was asked to explain why such kind of things are happening. The Manager too was reluctantly to accept their fault,” said the customer.

It was then that the local police was informed. Police reached the spot and on learning the entire episode took along with them the Manager of the petrol pump. Officials from the Oil Company also visited the pump and sealed the machine which was alleged to be tampered. If a machine at filling-stations tampers, it gives false readings due to integrated chips. This show disproportionate readings, which in simple terms mean customers paying more for lesser than desired fuel.