Supreme Court to Hear Plea for Mandatory Ethanol Content Disclosure at Petrol Pumps
SC will hear a plea on Aug 31 seeking mandatory disclosure of ethanol percentage in petrol at pumps and in invoices, plus a vehicle compatibility database.
The Supreme Court is set to hear a petition on August 31 that seeks a directive to the Centre and other authorities to make it mandatory for petrol pumps to display the exact percentage of ethanol in the fuel being dispensed. The plea, listed before a bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Prasanna B. Varale, calls for uniform labelling on every dispensing nozzle and for fuel invoices to clearly state the ethanol content.
The petitioner, Narendra Kumar Goswami, has also urged the court to direct the authorities to create and publish an official, vehicle-wise compatibility database. This database, searchable by manufacturer, model, engine type, and year of manufacture, would indicate the suitability of various ethanol blends for each vehicle.
Further, the plea requests the constitution of an independent expert committee, including representatives from the Ministries of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Road Transport and Highways, the Bureau of Indian Standards, and independent automobile engineers. The committee would be tasked with examining the real-world compatibility of E20 fuel with the existing vehicle fleet and submitting a public report.
The report would need to cover the impact of ethanol blending on fuel efficiency, engine longevity, maintenance costs, warranty and insurance implications, and the net environmental footprint, including tail-pipe emissions and water consumption in ethanol production. It would also need to address food-security and feed-diversion concerns linked to the blending programme.
The petition also seeks the framing of a national consumer disclosure protocol for all ethanol-blended petrol, in consultation with the Central Consumer Protection Authority and the Bureau of Indian Standards. It asks the court to direct authorities to place before it all policy files, technical studies, compatibility reports, safety standards, and consumer advisories that support the compulsory roll-out of E20.
Finally, the plea calls for a transparent transition framework for legacy and non-compatible vehicles. This includes considering the designated availability of lower ethanol petrol wherever feasible, backed by expert material and public consultation.