All CNG filling station across the country will come under GPS (Global Positioning System) maps to stop unhealthy competition and sale of adulterated fuels.
The matter was discussed in a recent monthly coordination meeting of Energy and Mineral Resources Division. It has been instructed to all concern department that the progress of this work should be reported in January.
“Such initiatives have been taken to prevent unfair competition among traders, prevent adulteration of fuel and control its quantity and quality. We have already included the petrol pumps under the GPS maps. Similarly, if it is possible to bring the CNG stations to GPS maps, it will be possible to ensure transparency, location along with calculation of daily consumption and sale of fuel,” energy and mineral resources division officials said.
Energy and Mineral Resources Division sources said that road connectivity is increasing across the country. Private cars and public transports are on the rise. Now there is a need for filling stations in rural areas too. The government will approve setting up new filling stations after screening.
According to the minutes of the meeting, the work of creating a database containing the list of all the filling stations (with GPS map/geographic location) under the jurisdiction of the oil marketing company has been completed.
According to the instructions of the state minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid, the database has been updated. The registration in the name of BPC has already been completed in the Bangladesh Computer Council regarding making the database live through the National Data Center. Technical work is in progress to make the database live. This work is expected to be completed soon.
Petrobangla has formed a committee to prepare a database of all CNG stations. The committee has already started working. Md. Mahbub Hossain, Senior Secretary of Energy Division ordered the concerned authority to complete the work quickly.
Recently, Nasrul Hamid said that they are bringing all the filling stations of the country under the GPS mapping system with the aim of modernizing the energy sector. Monitoring should be strengthened through modern technology to strengthen fuel oil sales network.
Approval for new filling stations in the country has stopped since 2016. However, a new fuel station was approved last year on special consideration. Applications for construction of many filling stations have been submitted to the Ministry and Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).
The stalemate in setting up new filling stations is due to unfair competition. However, many owners of the existing filling stations have also worked at the policy-making stage against the construction of new filling stations.
An official said ‘Unfair competition among many traders has been seen due to an increase in the number of filling stations. As a result, many traders are mixing adulterated oil and dispensing less quantity. This initiative has been taken to stop this unfair competition.’
GPS maps will be made of the number of filling stations across the country.
An official of the Energy Division said that along with diesel, CNG, petrol, octane, auto gas and electricity are also being used in motor vehicles. Some petrol and octane powered cars are converting to auto gas thinking of saving fuel. Again, the vehicles that can run on CNG are also being converted to auto gas.
The government is thinking of expanding auto gas extensively across the country. Meanwhile, government and non-governmental organizations are constructing auto gas stations in the country. As a result, the type of fuel consumption is changing.