Delhi HC Division Bench upholds OMCs' penal guidelines for oil retailers

Minimum wage mandate most contentious for retailers

A division bench of the Delhi High Court has upheld the Marketing Discipline Guidelines (MDG) 2017, formulated by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) for maintaining market discipline and uniformity in action for operating the network of petrol and diesel retail outlets (ROs).  Under the guidelines, heavy penalties are imposed on petrol pump dealers for malpractices such as short delivery of petroleum products, among others.

Petrol pump dealers had alleged that MDG 2017 gives arbitrary powers to officers of OMCs and makes their business unviable due to high-compliance burden. The aggrieved dealers had approached the Delhi High Court and a single-judge bench