Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) on Saturday said contaminated fuel, and not ethanol-blended (E20) petrol, caused the issue reported by the owner of a Toyota Hycross vehicle in a video circulating on social media.

The company was responding to a viral video in which a customer claimed the vehicle developed problems after being fuelled with E20 petrol. Rejecting the claim, TKM said the Hycross was designed, tested and certified for E20 fuel.

"Based on our detailed technical assessment of the vehicle, the issue was due to fuel contamination. Our inspection confirmed that there was no damage to any vehicle component or its fuel system," the company said.

As part of its service protocol, Toyota said it drained and cleaned the fuel tank and fuel lines before refilling the vehicle with standard E20 fuel. The vehicle was then inspected, found to be functioning normally and returned to the customer.

The company said the incident was solely the result of contaminated, non-standard fuel and was unrelated to the use of E20 petrol.

It advised customers to refuel only at authorised and reputed fuel stations to minimise the risk of contamination or adulteration, and urged them to rely on official, science-based information or contact Toyota's authorised dealerships or customer care for assistance.