Facts checked on 27 October 2026. Published by MDG Services on 19 October 2026.
Should you give udhar at all?
This page is for a petrol pump that gives diesel and petrol on credit to its regular customers: a transporter whose trucks fill every day, a fleet owner, a bus or tractor owner, a contractor whose machines fill at your pump. It is not about lending money to a friend.
At a pump, credit is common. Regular customers send their own truck with their own driver, and pay later. A pump that says no to all credit may find that some of them fill at the next pump.
Credit has a cost. Your money stays with the customer until he pays, and some customers pay late. So the useful question is not "credit or no credit". It is "credit on what rules".
The five decisions
Every pump that gives credit makes the same five decisions, written down or not. Make each one once, on purpose, and each fill stops being a fresh worry.
| Decision | What to decide | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Who gets credit | Which transporters, and what you check before saying yes | Who to give credit to |
| How much | One limit in rupees for each transporter | How to set a credit limit |
| For how long | The credit period (7, 15 or 30 days) and when new credit stops if it runs late | When to stop credit |
| Who may say yes | Who at the nozzle can allow a fill past the limit, and who cannot | Over the limit |
| How it is recorded | The same things written for every fill: truck number, litres, rupees, who filled, time | Credit at the nozzle |
Put the five answers on one page, in plain words, so the whole team applies them the same way. The credit policy template shows how. For plain meanings of the words, see the credit and khata glossary.
Why the stress comes from not knowing
Most of the worry in udhar is not the credit itself. It is not knowing: what a transporter owes today, whether the nozzle man gave more than was asked, who allowed the last fill over the limit. Seven habits that take the stress off are built from the five decisions above.
Where a shared credit book helps
Khata Kavach is a shared credit book between a petrol pump and its regular transporters. By default, the transporter asks from his own phone before each truck fills. The nozzle man's phone shows a green, amber or red light against the limit you set. Both of you see every fill, payment and bill as soon as the phone is online.
You set every limit. Khata Kavach never lends and never holds money: the transporter pays you directly, and you record it.
It is for petrol pumps, of any oil company, that give credit to regular customers who fill their own trucks and vehicles. See diesel on credit: the pump's side.
In this section
Questions people ask
01Should I give udhar at my petrol pump?
If your regular transporters fill on credit, a flat no may send them to the next pump. Credit with a limit, a named person who can say yes, and a record both sides see is easier to carry than credit given on memory. People search this as "business me udhar dena chahiye ya nahi"; the answer is in these five decisions.
02Which five things should I decide when I give udhar?
Who gets credit, a limit in rupees, a credit period, who may allow a fill over the limit, and one way of recording every fill. They are rules a pump sets for itself, not one fixed list. Write yours on one page: see the credit policy template.
03What is the difference between udhar and a loan?
Udhar here means fuel you give now and are paid for later, to a regular customer. A loan is money lent. Khata Kavach keeps the account of udhar between a pump and its transporters. It never lends money and never holds money.
04What is a credit period?
It is the number of days a transporter has to pay for what he filled, commonly 7, 15 or 30. The period and the limit go together: see how to set a credit limit.
Related pages
About Khata Kavach (advertisement)
Khata Kavach is a shared credit book for petrol pumps, from MDG Services. The transporter asks before each truck fills, your nozzle man sees the limit before he fills, and both of you see every fill, payment and bill. It never lends or holds money.