Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) has planned to enforce the security locking system on all petroleum tankers that dispatch fuel to domestic petrol pumps by mid February.

The oil monopoly is looking to fully implement the system in tankers dispatching fuel from NOC depots to domestic petrol pumps after installing the locking system on all tankers transporting fuel from the depot of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) into Nepal. NOC imports fuel from the Allahabad terminal in India to its depots in Nepalgunj and Dhangadhi.

The enterprise has started installing the locking system nearly two decades after the system was introduced in India. Installing the locking system on fuel tankers is expected to control oil theft.NOC Spokesperson Birendra Kumar Goit said the enterprise have installed the locking system on their entire fleet of 1,900 tankers that supply fuel throughout the country. “After completing the first phase of installation, we have planned to enforce the system in domestic areas in the next three and a half months.”

As per the NOC, the master keys to the security locks are held by the NOC and IOC officials. After a tanker is loaded with fuel at an IOC depot, IOC officials put the security lock on it. When the tanker arrives in Nepal, NOC officials unlock it and unload the cargo. In a bid to control fuel theft and leakage en-route, NOC had started installing security locking systems since last March. The mission was started from NOC’s depot in Charali, Jhapa.

IOC has provided 2,200 locking system in grants to install in tankers that are being used to transport fuel from India to Nepal. A lock costs IRs3,000-5,000 in India, according to the NOC.

The oil monopoly imports the fuel from IOC depots based at Allahabad, Raxaul, Barauni, Betalpur, Mugalsara, Gonda and Banthara in India. According to NOC, an estimated 10,000 locking devices are needed to secure all the tankers involved in transporting fuel inside the country. With the enforcement of the system, petroleum dealers are also expected to receive the exact amount of fuel for which they pay.

Bishwo Aryal, general secretary of Nepal Petroleum Transporters Federation said, “Provided that the system is enforced in the domestic movement too, it will benefit the operators of petrol pumps and petroleum transporters will also be free from the charge of being involved in fuel theft.”