Boards required at a petrol pump: stock, density and price boards

Short answer

Marketing Discipline Guidelines 2024 (MDG 2024) asks a dealer to display the opening stock, density, the authorised selling price of every product, a zero message on each pump, the product name on each nozzle, working hours, the complaint-book message, and the dealer's and oil company's contact names and numbers MDG 1.3(i) MDG 5.1.15 MDG 5.1.17 MDG 1.6(iv) MDG 1.6(v) MDG 1.6(viii). A missing price, stock, density, pump-sticker, nozzle-name or contact notice is a minor irregularity MDG 8.4(iii).

The Marketing Discipline Guidelines 2024 (MDG 2024) are the oil companies' rules for their dealers, and bind dealers through the dealership agreement. This page is a plain-language explanation by MDG Services (a brand of VRUOOM Private Limited). It is not the official text and is not connected with or approved by IndianOil, BPCL, HPCL or any government body, so please check the current guidelines and circulars on the oil companies' own websites and with your oil company officer before you act.

Checked against the Marketing Discipline Guidelines 2024 (Ver. 1, effective 24.10.2024) on 15 October 2026. Published by MDG Services on 27 October 2026.

Boards and notices MDG names

Rows without a remark are minor irregularities if missing MDG 8.4(iii). For a notice MDG does not name, the oil company acts after an enquiry MDG 8.5.4; “not named” does not mean “not required”.

Notice	What MDG says	Clause
Opening stock of the day	Displayed; after each decanting the stock register or stock display board is brought up to date	MDG 1.3(i) MDG 1.2(xiii) MDG 5.1.17
Selling price of every product	The retail selling price of each product sold	MDG 1.3(i) MDG 5.1.15 Circular 20.03.2025
Density	Must be displayed; no format given	MDG 5.1.17
Zero sticker	A message on each pump unit that the meter goes back to zero before each delivery	MDG 1.4.2(f) MDG 5.1.17
Product name on each nozzle	On each nozzle of an MPD (read in the trade as a multi-product dispenser; MDG does not spell it out)	MDG 5.1.17
Contacts	The dealer's and the oil company's names and phone numbers to call about a complaint, grievance or emergency, shown prominently	MDG 5.1.17 MDG 1.6(viii) Circular 20.03.2025
Complaint-book message	Shown prominently; not named in 8.4. See complaint book	MDG 1.6(iv)
Working hours, holiday notices, safety signs	Hours shown prominently, holiday notices well in time, signs such as No Smoking and switch off engine. Hours and signs are minor through the circular; holiday notices are named in neither the circular nor 8.4	MDG 1.6(v) Circular 20.03.2025 MDG 5.1.18 MDG 8.4(iii)(f)
Customer education poster and Customer Service Cell messages	The poster carries a message that filter paper (to check petrol) is available on request; the oil company provides the rest. Not named in 8.4	MDG 1.4.1(a) MDG 1.6(viii)
Toilet protocol and maintenance sheet	Protocol near the toilet, sheet kept and displayed, “Darpan” QR code. Not named by item in 8.4; a failing toilet is minor MDG 8.4(iii)(g). See toilet rules	MDG 5.1.14(b)

Your oil company may give a longer list and its own formats: ask it for the stock, rate and toilet-sheet formats. Kerosene dealers have their own rule: a stock-cum-price board at the place of business and storage MDG 2024, chapter 6, item 6. See kerosene dealers.

What a missing notice costs

For a notice that counts as minor: a warning-cum-guidance letter the first time, Rs 10,000 per irregularity the second time, and Rs 25,000 per irregularity from the third time MDG 8.4.

See penalties, and the 20 minimum service points that include hours, prices and safety signs.

Watch the one-minute explainer

Video · 1 minThe wall before the books

Questions dealers ask

01What boards are required at a petrol pump?

Opening stock, density, selling prices, the zero message, nozzle product names, working hours, the complaint-book message, contact names and numbers, and the toilet protocol MDG 1.3(i) MDG 5.1.15 MDG 5.1.17 MDG 1.6(iv) MDG 1.6(v) MDG 1.6(viii) MDG 5.1.14(b). Your oil company may give a longer list or its own formats.

02Is a density board compulsory at a petrol pump?

Yes. MDG 2024 lists non-display of density as an irregularity, a minor one, but gives no format MDG 5.1.17 MDG 8.4(iii)(b). Follow the board your oil company gives you.

03What must be on the petrol pump stock board?

The opening stock of the day, with the stock register or stock display board updated after each decanting MDG 1.3(i) MDG 1.2(xiii) MDG 5.1.17. MDG gives no layout, so use the format your oil company gives you.

04Is a rate board compulsory at a petrol pump?

Yes. The dealer must exhibit the retail selling price of every product sold at the outlet MDG 5.1.15 MDG 1.3(i). Not displaying it is a minor irregularity MDG 8.4(iii)(a).

05What is the penalty for not displaying boards at a petrol pump?

For the notices that 8.4(iii) lists, a warning-cum-guidance letter, then Rs 10,000, then Rs 25,000 per irregularity, at minimum MDG 8.4 MDG 8.5.1.

Read the official text: Marketing Discipline Guidelines 2024 (PDF on Bharat Petroleum's website) (also published on iocl.com).

What a petrol pump must provide to customers under MDG 2024Air, toilet, phone, first aid box, drinking water and complaint book: what MDG 2024 and a March 2025 circular require of a petrol pump dealer.

Filter paper test for petrol: what MDG 2024 requires a dealerMDG 2024 makes a dealer keep Whatman 2 filter paper for petrol and give it to any customer who asks. What the rule says and what a failed test sets off.

Petrol pump inspection checklist: 20 service obligationsThe 20 customer-service points an inspector marks YES or NO at a petrol pump, in plain words, and what a NO can cost under clause 5.1.18.

Petrol pump toilet rules in India under MDG 2024The daily toilet checks Marketing Discipline Guidelines 2024 (MDG 2024) sets, who may use the toilet, and the penalty now versus an older, replaced figure.

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