In a bid to rein in private fuel retailers curtailing operations to cut losses, the government has expanded the scope of Universal Service Obligation (USO), mandating licensed entities to maintain petrol and diesel sales at all petrol pumps, including in remote areas, for specified working hours.
"The government has now expanded the horizon of USO by including all retail outlets (petrol pumps) including remote area ROs under their ambit," the oil ministry said in a statement on Friday.
After this, entities that have been granted licences to retail petrol and diesel will be "obligated to extend the USO to all the retail consumers at all the retail outlets."
Failure to meet norms can lead to the cancellation of licences.
"This has been done with an objective to ensure a higher level of customer services in the market and to ensure that adherence to the USO forms a part of the market discipline," the ministry said.
The move follows some petrol pumps operated by PSU firms in states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat going out of stock following a sudden surge in demand.
This demand followed the curtailment of operations by private fuel retailers who could not compete with the heavily under-priced rates of public sector companies.
State fuel retailers haven’t changed retail prices since April 6 despite crude oil rates spiking to a decade
high.