[Born 2 Be Wild]

Originally Posted by Arkin evoisrevo

We've had more than a dozen drivers/chauffeurs, and 4-5 out of them (including the present one) who are OVERTLY honest. A couple were "dishonest" and the rest, just ok ok.
Right from the driver dad had 10 years ago in Chennai, who voluntarily stayed slept on the floor of the hospital my dad was once admitted to, to our present driver, who is more a friend, rather than a driver, to me.

Thats why is said its a RARITY to find an honest driver and not that its impossible to do so..!


My grandfather (Rtd. corp. commissioner) had come across such incidences of fuel being siphoned off by the Municipality trucks, tankers, jeeps etc. and got the offenders dealt with. But that was back in the 70's to early 90's. I don't think this is really possible now.

Now the Drivers are smarter and more efficient in their ways. Instead of siphoning off Fuel they simply make money at point of refuelling (applicable to those vehicles which have a fuel Account at a private Pump and not govt refuelling within the deptt)
they simply overfill the Fuel reciept and take the difference in cash from the salesman simple as that..

My replies in Bold and this is based on what i see on a daily basis.

[pratikraveesh]

Apart from checking the mileage of the car is there any other way by which the fuel siphoning can be checked and the fuel system be made pilfer proof. Locks, clamps, any idea? I'm sure some efforts must have been made on this.

[sagarpadaki]

Even if they bump up the fuel receipt to show 50 or 60 litres instead of 30/40,what if the owner pays through credit card?I am sure many owners now prefer credit card,even more so in case of the high profile ones.Then the pumps cant get around this i believe

[vkumars]

Pilfering of fuel by chauffeurs is nothing new. Has been around since the word 'chauffeur' came into existence. Short filling of fuel at pumps and producing false bills has always been there. The act was made easier by some 'too trusting' owners who remained blissfully unaware of the kilometres run or the fuel consumption.

In such incidents, usually the culprit had been an individual. What is rare and shocking in this case, is its organised nature and fact that the so called law-enforcers side with the law-breakers so openly. Hope that the offenders are caught soon (wishful thinking).

[GTO]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

The driver can always get the odometer reading tampered so as to indicate proper FE inspite of fuel theft. Not a fool proof approach.

Nothing is theft proof on this planet; why do we lock our cars despite knowing that locked cars get stolen? The key is to make things as difficult as you can.

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Even if they bump up the fuel receipt to show 50 or 60 litres instead of 30/40,what if the owner pays through credit card?I am sure many owners now prefer credit card,even more so in case of the high profile ones.Then the pumps cant get around this i believe

Can you elaborate? I didn't understand what relevance the payment mode has with short filling. Also, whether you pay with card or cash, you always need to ask for the bill (showing quantity of fuel).

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by GTO

Can you elaborate? I didn't understand what relevance the payment mode has with short filling. Also, whether you pay with card or cash, you always need to ask for the bill (showing quantity of fuel).

Suppose a driver bumps up the bill to show 60 liters when the actual capacity filled is 45 liters.If the owner pays by cash,the driver who has some adjustment with the pump attendant can get back the the cost of 15 liters.But if the owner pays through his credit card then the pump attendant cant give back the amount to the driver since there is no liquid cash in his hand.Even if he does the account at the end of the day would show discrepancies WRT to the amount collected by cash and amount collected through credit card

[sgiitk]

Unfortunately, due to the 2L per annum limit, above which you have to report your Credit Card expenses (leading to Scrutiny, etc) use of cards is not as popular as it should be. Also, fuel companies trying to charge extra for credit card transactions does not help. Abroad the fuel pumps PREFER card payments (less risk), anf there are special deals with the card services due to which the charges are much less that the 2.5%.

Thefts are wide spread, as it adulteration (why we have the Good Pumps in ... threads). I hear the practice of tampering the pump to show more than what is dispensed, which was near universal a few years ago, is on the decline.

Theft of fuel in govt (and I guess corporate) vehicles is very high.

One thing which can be done to make siphoning is to put in a device in the tank which stops this practice.

[dar3dev|l]

most of the thefts i assume happens to car which are owned by people who really don't bother about how much they spend or by people who's petrol bills are paid by the company (Govt./public/private organizations, babus/mamus/politicians, etc). These people are not just careless but also in a way encourage(by being neglectful) the chauffeurs for committing such thefts.

Why cant there be a law of max fuel that can be used by an individual no matter how big of tycoon he is. I know it will never happen but just a weird thought thou

[mayankk]

@daredevil:what a weird, weird thought!
youve put the poor bloke who's getting ripped off into another jam.

youve assumed and generalized a lot based on just a weird thought?

look a few posts above this, for where the lady was getting a 70L tank full on an NE, for cryin' out loud!
probably not a tycoon, nor-probably- a government employee, nor a babu/mamu.
just ignorant of the capacity of her fuel tank.
as a lot of people on the road are.
about most aspects of the car.

come on , man.

[sanjayk]

I have known a few car owners who don't leave the car keys with drivers when they are in office. This is one way of preventing the fuel theft. And coming to the point of filling up petrol why can't the owner be present when it is being refueled?

Complacency, gives scope for misuse. If you are vigilant, your driver/chauffeur will try to be honest.

No point in talking about theft in Government vehicles. Most of them want to make a quick buck, what ever way possible.

[Poitive]

How do taxi companies keep track of fuel pilferage?

Guess it is to do with keeping track of how many kms the car is used and the fuel used, knowing the FE of the car.

I vaguely recollect that in the old days, some elders keeping a notebook in the car. A logbook about where all the car has traveled and how much fuel has been filled. Though that may help a lot in curbing the problem, it may be quite a task to get today's chauffeurs to follow this system.

[vikramvicky1984]

I have actually bought 2 litres once from one of these rogues near T junction signal in dharavi.

My car had run out of fuel & a passerby told I could get fuel at a certain place in the building. I went there & number of cars were parked with fuel being taken out.

The guy was very strict & was not ready to give me. Only after multiple requests that I was badly stuck with my car did he give me 2 lites. I think I paid 100 rupees for it in september 2010.

The place is not really difficult to locate. One can notice it on the left side while coming from BKC towards matunga , right turn from the T junction signal. Its few buidling away on the left from the signal. You can see many nice cars lined up there

[IndigoXLGrandDi]

Mods, I searched for this topic but did not find any. If any such topic exists, please merge with that one. Thanks.


Is it easily possible to remove (rob) the fuel from any Modern 4 Wheeler?
It may from the Fuel Tank or from under the hood (bonnet).

I have query regarding Sumo Victa DI (AC, Power Steering) Model 2011 (purchased on 02-09-2011). I have to appoint the vehicle on Monthly Rent Basis for visiting various sites of our Company.
The owner-cum-driver does not want to park the vehicle at night near our Office and want to take it home for safety purpose.

I want to mention that the area around our office is not that safe. Many thefts have been carried out in past and Our office does not have compound to park.

So I cannot guarantee that his vehicle will be safe near our office.

Hence I want to know whether it is possible to remove fuel from a Modern vehicle with DI Engine.

Please help me.

[k_nitin_r]

It is possible to steal fuel from any vehicle but when a thief can steal fuel, he/she can steal other parts of the vehicle too so why settle for just the fuel?

Two ways to get to the fuel are to either: (a) break open the fuel tank lid cover, then unscrew the fuel lid and pump out the fuel, or (b) break into the vehicle and use the 'remote' fuel lid opener... not that I speak from experience :-P

With option b, you should be more concerned about the fittings in the interior of your vehicle. Theft of exterior fittings such as the rear spare tyre and fog lights are just as much of a possibility.

[anilisanil]

I am not too sure about the easy bit, but it is indeed possible to remove fuel from the tank when you have enough time at hand and no one to complain. All you need is an easy access to go underneath your vehicle, should not take more than 15-20 minutes for a trained person.