Fastlane: HP's Contactless fuel management, payment solution

Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) has collaborated with AGS Transact Technologies to introduce Fastlane - a new automated payment system for purchasing fuel. This is a contactless fuel management and payment solution, not requiring cash, card or paper transactions.

Called Fastlane, the system requires you to have an RFID (Radio-frequency identification) chip placed inside the inlet of the fuel tank. The fuel-dispensing nozzle will be fitted with a chip reader. The amount of fuel required is fed into a smartphone app by the customer. The app also contains a prepaid amount, which will be used to pay for the fuel purchased. Once the customer pulls up at a pump, the RFID reader identifies the car and fills the car up with the specified quantity and type of fuel. The payment for the fuel is automatically deducted from the prepaid amount.

For this service to work, a petrol pump should be fitted with an RFID reader, which is not a major investment. There are a number of advantages of using this system. It reduces any chance of billing fraud as the billing is automated. Owners of cars will not have to worry about their drivers filling fuel into jerry cans and a mix up between petrol and diesel is not likely. Fastlane also collects the odometer reading of your car. This allows the customer to track real-time fuel expenses.

The time required for filling up the car is also expected to be reduced. The customer just needs to pull up at the pump, wait for the fuel to be dispensed and immediately drive off. Fastlane is already being used in 18 petrol pumps in Mumbai. HPCL plans to expand it to 35 outlets. Further, the company is planning to make the service available in all HPCL pumps in Mumbai, and then in the NCR.

The Fastlane app is available on Google Play for Android users and the App Store for iPhone users.

For more information, click here.

Source: Economic Times