State-owned oil and gas holding company Pertamina and state-owned telecommunication company Telkom signed on Friday an agreement to apply digital technology to monitor 5,518 gas stations nationwide.

With the digital technology, Pertamina will be able to monitor fuel stocks in all tanks at gas stations, the amount of fuel distributed and the revenue from sales of the fuels. It is expected to start operation in December, the first quarter of 2019.

State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno said the application of the digital technology aimed to improve transparency in fuel distribution so that Pertamina could have accurate data on the amount of fuel that should be distributed to each gas station.

“The objective is to improve Pertamina’s service to customers. We can also check the revenue in each gas station quickly and accurately. It will also guarantee no cheating in the distribution,” she said in a press statement.

The agreement was signed by Pertamina retail marketing director Mas’ud Khalid and Telkom enterprise and business service director Dian Rachmawan, witnessed by Rini, Pertamina president director Nicke Widyawati and Telkom president director Alex J. Sinaga.

Mas’ud said the digital technology application would strengthen the supervision of each gas station and improve the efficiency of fuel distribution.

Under the agreement, Telkom will develop digital infrastructure and a data center that would be connected to 5,518 or 75,000 nozzles. (bbn)