During an ad hoc inspection of Bhutan Oil Corporation’s fuel dispensary pumps at Chamkhar on Thursday, trade officials in Bumthang found all the pumps to be dispensing the correct amount of fuel.
The inspection was carried out following complaints from the public regarding supposed irregularities in the quantity of fuel dispensed at the station. The exercise is believed to clear the doubts of the people who are sceptical of the fuel station’s service.
Consumers, mostly those that fetch fuel in jerry cans observed a visibly less amount of fuel while purchasing petroleum products from the station in Chamkhar. Some of them lodged complaints to the Regional Trade Office but mostly verbally. Trade officials then took the 5-litre measuring jar to the Bhutan Standards Bureau (BSB) in Thimphu for calibration. On Thursday, the Petroleum, Oil, and Lubricants (POL) Focal Person for Bumthang and Trongsa districts inspected and calibrated all the dispensary pumps.
“People complained about the quantity of petrol and diesel dispensed by the pumps here. However, I have checked all the pumps and found out that all of them are dispensing the correct amount of oil. Moreover, one of the pumps was even dispensing extra fuel but I have calibrated it and everything has been adjusted as per the quantity fixed by the BSB. We conduct the calibration every month. We also take the POL samples and the 5-litre measuring jar to BSB regularly,” informed RB Gurung, the POL Focal Person at Regional Trade Office in Trongsa.
During the inspection, it was also found out that all the seals attached to the pumps were also kept intact. Consumers who are unconvinced by the precision of the fuel dispensers can demand people working at the fuel station to quantify the fuels in the 5-litre measuring jar.
“The fuel stations have the 5-litre can issued by the BSB. So people should ask for the can from the BOC staff if they are doubtful of the quantity of fuel so that they measure it. This is legitimate and they are allowed to check if the fuel dispensed is of the right amount. This is not just confined to Trongsa or Bumthang, the can is available in all the fuel stations across the country. So people all over the country can make use of this service,” he added.
People have also been expressing the need to upgrade the fuel dispensary pumps. Bumthang’s BOC manager said there are plans to install new digital pumps at the station.
“We do receive complaints from the people regarding the quantity of fuel but we have been using the jar issued by BSB to convince them. We don’t exactly know when the new pumps will be installed but we have been informing our regional office in Gelegphu about the need to upgrade the equipment. Our Regional Manager told us that the pumps have to be installed by the Indian Oil Corporation, which supplies our fuel. The regional office has been told that new pumps would be installed at Chamkhar soon,” said Dawa Norbu, the Officiating Manager for Bhutan Oil Corporation in Bumthang.
All the dispensers at Chamkhar fuel station are quite old now. Of the four pumps, two of them were installed about 8 years ago and the other two have been there since the fuel station was first established.
Kipchu
