Home delivery of fuel may start from next month

 Even as a Bengaluru-based startup had to halt home delivery of petrol and diesel, preparations are on at the central level to launch the scheme from next month, albeit on a pilot basis to bulk consumers only.

The scheme may be launched next month if a certificate to that effect is obtained from fuel safety body Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) under the Department of Policy and Promotion in the Commerce Ministry.

The door-to-door delivery is expected to be restricted to farmers in villages who have to travel to city limits to get diesel and store it for the agricultural season.

The bulk supply will also be made available to industrial consumers in cities, industry sources said.

They said these supplies would be much like home delivery of  LPG cylinders, which are pre-booked. The delivery will most likely be done in sealed canisters like cooking gas cylinders.

There are suggestions for mobile petrol and diesel dispensers to deliver fuel as well. Retail-level supplies will, however, take some time and will have to pass rigorous safety tests.

The concept of door-to-door delivery of petrol and diesel gained currency after Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in April,  predominantly to avoid long queues at petrol pumps.

“The petroleum ministry is exploring home delivery of petroleum products. Under the plan, petroleum products such as diesel, petrol and kerosene are likely to be home delivered based on pre-booking, helping consumers avoid long queues at fuel stations,” Pradhan had said. According to ministry estimates, close to 3.5 crore transactions take place at fuel stations every day across the country. At present, only LPG and piped natural gas are delivered to homes.

Last week, Bengaluru-based startup MyPetrolPump had started home delivery of fuel, but it had to halt the operations following a circular issued by PESO, which stated that door-to-door delivery of fuel is not approved by the government.