Recently, the Weights and Measures Department sealed 10 petrol stations in the Capital for supplying customers less fuel than what the metre showed. The offending owners are also liable to be prosecuted under the Weights and Measures Act, 1976. The raid has revealed only the proverbial tip of the iceberg, though. Most vehicle owners have always suspected that they are being shortchanged at one station or the other.

Most offenders usually tamper with the metres. Some attendants defraud customers by starting to refill without bringing the reading to zero. Others don't empty the pump pipe fully into the tank, thereby delivering less fuel than what the reading shows. Still others run pumps on a higher voltage, which prompts the metre to run faster and record an incorrect reading.

Though there is no permanent mechanism to ensure thatyou pay for what you get, yet one-off suspicions can be cross-checked. A recognised method is to measure five litres of fuel from a pump into a calibrated five-litre can, which all the stations are bound to keep.

It is far more reliable than the cumbersome procedure of fueling at different stations and comparing the mileage to identify a dependable petrol pump. Customers must also remember that it is not necessary that all the pumps at a station have been rigged.

Petrol stations don't cheat on quantity alone. Quality can also be a casualty. Some pumps supply adulterated fuel. This can be checked by putting a drop of petrol on a filter paper, which the pumps are required to keep. Unadulterated oil evaporates completely. Adulterated oil leaves behind a stain.

Apart from the calibrated can, filter paper and a complaint book, all the stations are also required to provide the name, address and phone number of the concerned oil company officer to a customer who wants to complain. Oil companies can stop thesupply of petrol for 15 days for the first offence. The suspension of supplies is for 30 days for the second infringement. And a subsequent offence is enough for the oil company to terminate the contract of the petrol station.

Wronged customers may even complain to the Department of Weights and Measures for prosecuting the offenders. The Standard of Weights and Measures Act, 1976, seeks to establish a uniform standard of weights and measures for goods, which are sold or distributed by weight, measure or number.

Tampering with weights and measures, or sale and delivery of an article in quantity or number less than what has been paid for is punishable with an imprisonment of two years or fine of Rs 5,000 or both.

Besides, the correct quantity and the right quality, customers have a right to use telephone, first-aid kit, free air service, water and toilet facilities at petrol stations. And, lastly, customers are entitled to a bill. They must insist on a bill, particularly when there is an unconfirmedhike. Nothing is final unless it's time-tested.