[Alter_Ego]

IOC opens India's first self-service petrol outlet.

Business Line : Companies News : IOC opens India's first self-service petrol outlet

Self-refuelling petrol pumps have become a reality in India. Indian Oil Corporation introduced the concept in its dealer-owned retail outlet in Delhi.
The self-dispensing system is quite popular at the fuel stations abroad and this will at least take care of the various malpractices happening at almost all the petrolpumps across india.

Hope these kind of outlets are opened throughout India.

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[rk_sans]

Wow!! Kudos to IOC for taking this step. This would definitely boost the consumer confidence. And would reduce the malpractices adopted by the dispensing attendants.

[carfreak77]

Great news! Finally, it happened. I have been looking forward to this for quite a while now. Good to see IOC taking the initiative. Interested in seeing how popular it becomes.

[vipul_singh]

Any idea where in Delhi is this located? I am sick and tired of petrol pump attendants touching my car with greasy hands, or worst still, leaning against it while filling up!

Hope this would be a COCO pump and would have self service air filling as well.

[blackasta]

Good initiative - there shall be some spills and misses initially, but self service is a good initiative in India where more often than not, the attendant tries to trick you.

[swiftnfurious]

Good initiative I believe. So no more worries of the attendents diverting your focus & doing fraud. But could someone point to "how" to use this feature? What are the steps involved in filling fuel in this pump ?

[alam86]

Sounds like a good initiative for us consumers but isn't that bad for the attendants? One of the biggest reasons petrol pumps are self-service in foreign countries is the high labor cost. That is not the case in India. For a country of 1 billion people, we need these jobs!

This does not mean I condone the malpractices that go on. That is obviously not good.

[bigvishnu]

Originally Posted by alam86

Sounds like a good initiative for us consumers but isn't that bad for the attendants? One of the biggest reasons petrol pumps are self-service in foreign countries is the high labor cost. That is not the case in India. For a country of 1 billion people, we need these jobs!

This does not mean I condone the malpractices that go on. That is obviously not good.

Alam... try running a petrol pump and tell me how difficult it is to get, and retain good people to work for you. we are a country of a billion, but also of a huge scarcity of labor. stating this first hand seeing my uncle struggle with labor (runs a coco IOC pump at Jadcherla on the Hyd-Blore highway).

I believe its a great move, which will have its niche takers. Way To Go IOC!

[Nitrous Power]

This is a great news. I like to see more and more self-service petrol outlets. This can reduce the malpractice done during the refill.

[rohanjf]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

But could someone point to "how" to use this feature? What are the steps involved in filling fuel in this pump ?

Usually the fuel dispenser shows the instructions. If paying by card:
1. Lift the nozzle
2. Swipe the card when that message appears
(I think at this point, you even have the option of selecting a fixed money)
3. Fill and replace nozzle
4. Card gets charged and bill is printed

However, paying by cash is not so easy. You have to go into the office and get a coupon and enter that number after lifting the nozzle.

[C300]

Great news! Slowly this should be implemented across the cities. They will still need attendants and video surveillance mechanism to monitor the customers.

[sarmarishi]

in Shell pumps abroad these are the steps:

With card:
1) Lift the nozzle
2) select option for amount in terms of fixed amount or full tank
3) swipe your card and once it shows approved, it starts filling
4) Stops on the required amount/ or when the auto-stop kicks in
5) Bill and card receipt gets printed

With cash:
1) Park at the put
2) go to the office and tell the guy the pump no.
3) pay the amount you wish to fill
4) come back to the car and put the nozzle in
5) then the guy sitting behind the desk operates the pump from inside and the fuel starts filling.

Hope that clarifies!

[informmaha]

Wow....this really is an impressive move by IOC. Was waiting for this to happen in India and did'nt hope it to happen so soon . Hope to see many more pumps in the future atleast in major cities. It would be hassle free experience of its own. Initially there might be problems here and there, but time would pave way for that....All things seem to happen at the same time.. I did'nt hope a movement like Anna Hazare's to happen in my lifetime, but that has happened..Now we can say India is developing

[Eddy]

As long as the nozzles and the handles are clean and your hands don't end up smelling of petrol once you refill, its fine.

That said, I would still prefer getting a refill from the attendant. They cannot cheat you if you are vigilant enough.

[Swanand Inamdar]

Good initiatve indeed. Company's seem to have realised, that there is no other options than starting self fueling stations. Kudos to IOC. Hope others take note and follow. Hope this initiative does good and is soon, implemented nation wide.

What remains to see is, if people are honest enough to go and pay for the fuel. What if someone makes a quick dash after re-fueling? How do they plan to track down the culprit?