Only two fuel stations chosen by oil companies - one at Anjuna, the other at Valpoi
Fuel stations with State Bank of India swipe machine will get the facility first
Hope of Panaji being on card for cash service by Monday
Banks need to configure machines at fuel stations for dispensing cash as presently they are configured for sale of fuel
Station owners worried over security as large amounts of cash will be involved
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Cash for cards service at fuel stations still elusive
THE GOAN NETWORK
PANAJI
Most petrol pumps in Goa still do not have facility to give people cash if they swipe their cards in a machine and those which have are yet to start dispensing cash.
Paresh Joshi, president, Goa Petrol Dealers Association (GPDA), said, "Only two petrol pumps in Goa have been chosen for this facility by oil companies. These are Sidheshwar petrol pump in Anjuna and Nuha Travels petrol pump in Valpoi. Even these petrol-pumps have not started dispensing cash yet.”
Petrol-pumps having State Bank of India (SBI) machine will get this facility first. In a short span of time, this facility will be made available to petrol-pumps having machines of other banks like ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank.
Not a single petrol-pump in Panaji has this facility yet. A source at a petrol pump in Panaji said, “We are hopeful that we will be able to provide cash to people swiping their card by Monday. But, before that, banks will have to configure machines for such transactions because as of now our machines are configured for sale of fuel and not for delivering of cash.”
Petrol-pump dealers said that this move is in the interest of the public as people will be able to approach petrol pumps to get cash just like they go to an ATM.
But, banks and petrol-pumps will have to do a lot of preparatory work before that. Joshi continued, “We need to know who will provide security, as a lot of cash will be involved. We will need to ensure that the person who will deal with so much cash is reliable. As of now, we don’t know if banks will be providing us separate machines for people to swipe card for cash.”
Banks will also have to ensure that petrol-pumps get cash in low denomination. In ATMs, people have to take whatever notes the machines dispense. People are often unhappy if an ATM gives them Rs 2,000 notes because it is tough to get change for it.
In petrol-pumps, people may argue with officials if they are not given cash in denominations that they desire.
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Petrol dealers association appeals to people
• Goa Petrol Dealers Association (GPDA) has appealed to people to tender exact change at petrol-pumps as far as possible
• Petrol-pumps have been allowed to accept old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes for sale of fuel till November 24
• However, due to lack of smaller denominations, at times, it becomes tough for them to tender change to customers
• GPDA requested customers to first pay and then fill fuel to avoid problems like non availability of change
• GPDA also urged customers not to argue with the delivery staff, as they are under tremendous stress since November 9
