133 fuel guns supplying less oil in TN

CHENNAI: As part of routine inspections, officials of the Legal Metrology Division (operating under the Labour Department), have suspended 133 fuel (petrol and diesel) nozzles in the State from delivering fuel, as they were found to be under-supplying. Thirty-one of these orders were made in fuel stations in Chennai. These suspensions have happened between April and August, after the Legal Metrology Act of 2009 came into force in the State replacing the Standards of Weights and Measures Act, 1976. “These errant nozzles or fuel guns as they’re commonly known, were found to supply lesser than the quantity stated in the meter,” said K Veerappan, deputy controller of legal metrology in the state. Under the new Legal Metrology Act 2009, a petrol station is, for every 5 litres supplied, allowed a minor variation of 25 ml less or more. Any deviation from that level qualifies as short-supply and can lead to suspension of the nozzle (not the entire petrol station) which short-supplies. All weights and measures used for commercial purposes are required, under the Legal Metrology Act, to be inspected and sealed every year. Upon suspension, the owner of the petrol filling site will have to pay a fine of `1,000.