Delhi’s stricter CNG hydro-test enforcement is leaving vehicle owners facing two- to three-month waits, long trips to testing centres and higher costs, while Indraprastha Gas Limited has begun piloting an artificial intelligence-based system to detect invalid certificates at fuel stations.
Under the Gas Cylinders (Amendment) Rules, 2025, CNG vehicle cylinders must undergo a hydro test every three years at a centre recognised by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation, or PESO. CNG stations have been instructed not to refuel vehicles that do not carry a valid hydro-test certificate.
The enforcement was tightened after a cylinder explosion while gas was being filled in a truck at a CNG station in Tikri Kalan on August 19 killed three people, according to the report. The incident increased scrutiny of the condition and certification of cylinders used by vehicles in the capital.
However, IGL’s website lists only 10 PESO-authorised testing centres in Delhi, even though the city has lakhs of CNG vehicles and receives a large number of vehicles from other states every day. Drivers are reportedly waiting for two to three months for appointments, while the testing process can consume an entire day.
The shortage has also created confusion over the locations of some centres. At an address listed in Chhatarpur, employees reportedly told callers that the facility was actually located in Haryana and that vehicles had to be taken there. The limited capacity and unclear information have led drivers to travel across the National Capital Region for testing.
The report also describes allegations of middlemen charging drivers higher amounts outside testing centres. Amit Goyal, a resident of east Delhi, said he had to travel to Ghaziabad because he could not find a centre nearby and paid Rs 3,000 for the test. The report said testing charges were not clearly defined.
There are also concerns about how fuel stations verify certificates. At a CNG station on Mathura Road, certificates were reportedly not being checked for every vehicle. The station manager, identified as Vipin, said staff had been made aware of the requirement but that there was no system to verify whether certificates were genuine. A station employee said attempts to demand valid certificates could lead to arguments and even physical confrontations with drivers.
Delhi Petroleum Dealers Association president Bibek Banerjee said there was no system for dealers to authenticate the documents. This leaves station staff responsible for enforcing a rule without access to a reliable verification mechanism, while motorists face the risk of denied refuelling or payments to intermediaries.
To address the certification problem, IGL has started an AI-based automated vehicle-inspection pilot at 10 CNG stations in Delhi. Cameras installed at the stations scan a vehicle’s registration plate and connect directly to the PESO portal. The system checks whether the cylinder’s hydro test is valid and issues an alert when the record does not meet the requirement.
An IGL official said the company plans to extend the system to more than 120 IGL CNG stations in Delhi. The expansion timeline and the final arrangements for increasing testing capacity were not specified in the report.
