B-SISA blocked?
What it means and what to do
if you’re refused fuel

How to find out what needs to happen next

How to interpret the station’s alert

B-SISA stands for Sistema de Información de Comercialización de Combustibles, Bolivia’s fuel sales information system. The general regulations provide for an RFID device, commonly called a tag, linked to the customer’s registration. Having the sticker fitted does not establish that the registration is active.

Article 16.j of the general regulations requires the operator to communicate the alerts and restrictions displayed. You can ask the attendant to explain what the system shows.

The Second Additional Provision of DS 5349 allows temporary deactivation for purchasing irregularities or device faults that prevent it from being read. The 2025 regulations provide for ANH to assess the suspension and set the conditions for reactivation. An administrative suspension alone is not a criminal conviction.

A damaged tag and purchases you don’t recognise need different responses

For a damaged tag, ANH’s FAQs list replacement requirements that include bringing the vehicle, its RUAT registration document and valid identification. Confirm the service location and current requirements before visiting.

To review purchases linked to your registration, ANH’s FAQs describe a purchase-history request requiring proof of identity and ownership or a legitimate interest, plus a payment. Ask whether you need the report and how much it costs; it is not an anonymous public lookup.

As practical supporting evidence, keep any invoices, receipts and journey records you have. They may help you explain purchases or identify those that do not belong to your vehicle.

If you suspect a cloned number plate, ANH’s guidance directs you to DIPROVE, the vehicle theft investigation police, to report it. Also request an ANH review of purchases attributed to your registration. An unfamiliar purchase alone does not prove that your plate was cloned.

Two visits, 120 litres and five days: what the rules actually say

Do two refuelling visits in one day automatically block B-SISA? The rules we reviewed do not set that universal threshold. The suspension regulations address irregularities and purchasing patterns; their technical background refers to consumption, time and distance between stations. Repeated purchases may be assessed, but a figure in a news report does not amount to a nationwide rule.

Does every car have a monthly limit of 120 litres? That figure appears in article 3.g of the 2023 regulations for purchases outside the vehicle’s fuel tank. Article 3.h describes containers that are not connected to an engine. It should not be applied to ordinary refuelling of every car’s tank. If you buy in containers or under another special category, check the current rules for that category.

Does reactivation take five days? The five working days in the Second Additional Provision of DS 5349 were the deadline for ANH to issue the regulations, not to reactivate drivers’ registrations. Article 5 of the specific regulations requires ANH’s conditions to be met, such as addressing the device or explaining consumption, depending on the case.

If your vehicle uses GNV, ask exactly what the alert affects

If your vehicle uses GNV, Bolivia’s term for compressed natural gas, ask which fuel the alert affects, which price the system indicates and which rule is being applied. The alert alone does not establish a complete ban on buying petrol.

As background, DS 5400 and ANH’s 2025 methodology established purchasing parameters for subsidised liquid fuel and an international-price mechanism when those parameters were exceeded. That mechanism differs from a suspension. We could not verify its operational application by sector in October 2026.

For conversion procedures, see our guide to GNV and the Patria programme.

Where to complain and how to follow up

If your complaint concerns service at the station, register it with the operator and ask for a tracking number. ANH’s ODECO complaints manual provides for a second stage before ANH if the problem is not resolved. A service complaint and a review of a suspension are separate processes; ODECO deadlines are not reactivation deadlines.

Keep the responses to your enquiry. If the restriction remains, ask which condition is still outstanding and how to show that you have met it.

Tanqueo helps you find stations. The app does not access your personal B-SISA history or reactivate your registration; ANH handles registration reviews.