Fuel sample failed at a petrol pump: what happens next

Short answer

Under Marketing Discipline Guidelines 2024 (MDG 2024), the oil companies' rules for their dealers under the dealership agreement, a sample counts as failed when its result and the reference sample's are further apart than the test method allows MDG 2.10. The lab tests the nozzle sample with the tank lorry and supply location samples before anyone decides MDG 2.5(G) MDG 2.5(I). Within 10 days of receiving the lab report, the dealer can ask for his retained sample to be re-tested at a PSU lab he picks, at his own cost MDG 2.5(H).

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 25 October 2026.

What "failed" means

A sample fails when its result and the reference sample's are further apart than the test method allows, which MDG calls the "reproducibility/permissible limit". MDG prints no figures for it MDG 2.10. On its wording, that can meet MDG's definition of adulteration MDG 5.1.1: see adulteration, penalty and who pays.

How the lab decides

The lab tests the nozzle sample against TL1, the latest tank lorry sample, and SL1, the supply location sample that goes with it. If the nozzle sample fails and TL1 passes, it tests TL2 and SL2 too. MDG does not define those two further MDG 2.5(G).
A decision waits until every relevant sample is tested MDG 2.5(I).
If all pass, the dealer is told in writing and the retention samples can be disposed of. The result, pass or fail, should reach the dealer, preferably within 30 days of the sample being drawn MDG 2.5(F).

See how 3-tier sampling works.

Your right to ask for a re-test

After a failed result, ask within 10 days of receiving the lab report MDG 2.5(H).
Your retained sample and the oil company's counter sample are tested at a PSU lab you pick in the same or a neighbouring state, or at FTL Noida, with the field officer and you present MDG 2.5(H).
The competent authority decides on all the results, and the decision is binding on all MDG 2.5(H).
You bear the cost MDG 2.5(H).

MDG does not say how the request is made. Ask your oil company.

The deadlines that follow

Where samples were drawn at an inspection, the show cause notice is due within 30 days of the test results MDG 8.5.6. The reply, the speaking order and any appeal then run as set out on the show cause notice and appeal pages.

A passing sample can still leave other findings to answer: see reference density, positive and negative stock variation and penalties.

General information, not legal advice. For your own notice, speak to an advocate or your oil company.

Questions dealers ask

01Are my sales stopped when a fuel sample is sent to the lab?

A failed density test, filter paper test or mobile lab clinical test leads an oil company officer to suspend sales and supply of all products, and samples go for priority testing MDG 2.5(K); chapter 7 words the mobile lab case differently MDG 7.6.1(b). Positive stock variation beyond the limit, or no reference density at inspection, also means immediate suspension and sampling; if that sample fails, action follows as for adulteration MDG 5.1.11 MDG 5.1.9.

02Can the transporter ask for his sample to be tested?

Yes, a transporter who is not also the dealer can. The oil company tests his retained sample against the dealer's tank lorry sample and the supply location sample, the decision is binding on all, and the transporter bears the cost MDG 2.5(J).

03Can another agency start a parallel investigation?

MDG says that once one agency has detected a quality irregularity and begun its investigation, no parallel investigation by drawing samples is carried out while that one is pending MDG 2.5(M).

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

3-tier sampling at a petrol pump: who holds which sampleHow 3-tier sampling works under Marketing Discipline Guidelines 2024 (MDG 2024): the three samples, who draws and keeps each, and how long they are kept.

Adulteration at a petrol pump: meaning, penalty, who paysWhat Marketing Discipline Guidelines 2024 (MDG 2024) count as adulteration at a petrol pump, the penalty, and who pays for adulterated fuel in a tank.

Petrol pump show cause notice under Marketing Discipline Guidelines 2024 (MDG 2024): the timelineWhat MDG 2024 says follows an irregularity: a show cause notice within 30 days, 10 days to reply, a speaking order and a hearing before termination.

Penalties under the Marketing Discipline Guidelines 2024 (MDG 2024): what each irregularity costsWhat a petrol pump dealer faces under the Marketing Discipline Guidelines 2024 for a critical, major or minor irregularity, and how sales get stopped.

About Dealer Kavach (advertisement)

Dealer Kavach is an app from MDG Services that tracks your outlet's filings, renewals, inspections and daily reports, and reminds you before deadlines, in Hindi and English.

About this page. This page is a plain-language explanation published by MDG Services, a brand of VRUOOM PRIVATE LIMITED (CIN U29194HR2021PTC098450). It is general information, offered free of charge. It is not the official text of any rule.

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Check the official source. The Marketing Discipline Guidelines 2024 (Ver. 1, effective 24.10.2024) and related circulars are issued by the oil companies. Rules, amounts and dates can change, and amendments may reach dealers directly without being public. Before you act, read the current documents on the oil companies' own websites (iocl.com, bharatpetroleum.in, hindustanpetroleum.com) and ask your own oil company's officer. If this page and the official document differ, the official document is the one to follow.

What the amounts mean. Amounts in the guidelines are the minimum action. The oil company may take higher action, up to ending the dealership. Do not treat any amount shown here as your full exposure.

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Not legal advice. This is general information, not legal advice. For your own notice, reply or appeal, speak to an advocate or your oil company. Examples use made-up outlets.

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