The Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Rameswar Teli in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today informed that Universal Service Obligations (USOs) have been prescribed so that authorized entities provide quality and uninterrupted fuel supply services to the consumers. These USOs, inter alia, require:-

•  maintaining supplies of MS and HSD to retail consumers throughout the specified working hours and of specified quality and quantity.
•  ensuring availability of minimum facilities as specified by the Government, to all the retail consumers at the retail outlet.
•  maintaining minimum inventory levels of MS and HSD as specified by the Government from time to time.
•  providing service to any person on demand within a reasonable period of time and on non-discriminatory basis.
• availability of fuel to the customers at reasonable prices all the time.

   In June 2022, the Government has expanded the scope of Universal Service Obligations (USOs) to all retail outlets including remote area retail outlets.    

******

YB/RKM