Sting exposes CNG sticker fraud, govt curbs distribution

Delhi government on Tuesday restricted the issuing of CNG stickers to just one Indraprasth Gas Limited station after a television sting operation indicated that such stickers are free for all.

As per the government’s odd-even formula, CNG cars are exempted from the government’s drastic car curbs only if they display the government-certified sticker on their windscreen.

Until Tuesday, the stickers for CNG car were available at 95 CNG filling stations in Delhi and 19 others in the neighbouring NCR areas.

Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai said these stickers will now be available only at the CGO complex station on Lodhi Road. The CNG station will remain open throughout the day.

Earlier on Tuesday, a sting by India News showed that an Indraprasth Gas Limited (IGL) employee issued CNG sticker to a petrol-fuelled car for Rs 2,800.

So far, 3.9 lakh stickers have been sold to CNG vehicles from Delhi and NCR regions, the government said. Currently, Delhi alone has 3.5 lakh CNG cars.

These stickers have a special logo that can be detected with the help of an instrument. Rai said the government has asked agencies responsible for implementation of the odd-even rule to conduct random checks.

He said FIRs will be registered against those obtaining stickers through illegal means.

Meanwhile, the IGL employee Deepak Sen, who was caught on camera issuing an unauthorised sticker at Vivek Vihar CNG station, was slapped with an FIR. He has been booked for “criminal breach of trust by public servant”. The case was registered at the local Vivek Vihar police station.

The government-authorised stickers are issued only after the IGL employees check the vehicle registration certificates – which mentions whether it is CNG-fuelled or not.

The CNG stickers will be available at the CGO complex station throughout the odd-even trail. Starting from January 1, the Delhi government implemented its 15-day long road rationing experiment.