This Bharat Petroleum owned petrol pump is located outside the Regional Transport Office in Pune

In this time of social distancing, everyone is required to maintain at least 1 meter distance from others; and interaction is to be kept to the minimum. Offices and business establishments are opening up in a phased manner after nearly 55 days of lockdown and once again vehicles are seen on the streets.

The Government of India has also initiated the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ or self-reliant India. To take on from this initiative, a petrol pump in Pune has become the first self reliant petrol pump in Maharashtra. Vehicle owners need not wait for an attendant at this petrol pump which is located outside the Regional Transport Office in Pune. This initiative has been started so as to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, allowing vehicle owners to fill the fuel tanks of their cars and bikes on their own.

All customers are given sanitizers to use after which the staff instruct them how to fill up the petrol/diesel in their vehicles. Then on the customer is left to fill the required amount of fuel while using the swipe and dispense method. The machine also accepts payment in cash, card or via other digital means.

The customer has to enter the value of the fuel to be filled in numerical. They then have to take the nozzle, check zero on the meter, lift the lever and there is a lock under the lever which needs to be pressed to allow the fuel to flow. The flow automatically stops once the required amount is filled.

The customer then has to take out the nozzle place it back on the machine and the entire process is completed in a matter of 5 minutes. The staff accepts payment via cash, card or digital payments and the limit is set to a minimum of Rs.30 and a maximum of Rs.400 for two wheelers.

This is the first experiment of a self reliant petrol pump. It not only allows for social distancing but also ensures that the right amount of fuel is filled. Some customers stated this will help reduce fraud too, as there have been instances when customers have complained about petrol pump staff cheating on the quantity of fuel filled.

This initiative was started as a part of the PM’s Atmanirbhar Yojna. The concept has been met with favour and sees around 800-900 liters of petrol and 500-600 liter of diesel filled per day via these vending machines. It is hoped that this efficient and safer way of filling fuel will be adopted by other petrol pumps as well as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on.