Petrol pump fined for stinking toilet

BPCL imposes a fine of Rs 60,000 for poor services

Mumbai/Pune: Sending out a stern warning, the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has slapped a fine of Rs 60,000 on a Pune petrol pump for stinking toilets and rendering overall poor services to its customers.

The major oil marketing company levied the steep penalty on its retail fuel dealer Nitin Ishwarlal Shah who owns the Ishwar Service Station at Kondhwa Road in Lullanagar.

The action followed a complaint by a regular client Prafful Sarda, a full-fledged enquiry along with multiple warnings to ensure that the fuel bunker adhered to the BPCL’s stringent Marketing Discipline Guidelines (MDG), 2012, in future.

Among the major lapses unearthed were poor housekeeping at the premises, dirty toilets, unclean canopy, an illegal PUC box kept in the retail area, staff not wearing proper uniforms and quality of care area reduced to a dump with barrels and lubes - resulting in a fine of Rs. 25,000.

The probe found that the driveway sales personnel were repeatedly seen sporting sports shoes, and though a minor offence, it attracted a penalty of Rs. 25,000.

Sarda said he found on several occasions that there was no air-boy to fill up free air as is the norm at most retail outlets and after verification BPCL levied a fine of Rs 10,000.

“At least three days in a week, there is no air-boy to provide air to the vehicle tyres and customers have to go elsewhere for unreliable and paid options. When the clients shell out the exorbitant amounts for petrol-diesel they are entitled to at least free air, decent toilets and clean drinking water, particularly during the hot summer,” fumed Sarda.

The OMC has issued warnings for first-time offences like inadequate and ill-equipped first-aid facilities and aluminium buckets without binding wires.

Federation of All Maharashtra Petrol Dealers Association (FAMPEDA) President Uday Lodh, said toilets or free air and water are a ‘complimentary service’ provided only to the fuel-buyers, at the insistence of the authorities, by the 7,500-fuel stations in Maharashtra.

“However, these are misused by unauthorized persons, pedestrians or general people who use it as a ‘public toilet’ and create a mess. We have no financial or human resources for the upkeep of these facilities, but we somehow manage,” Lodh told ‘The Perfect Voice’.

Lauding the BPCL, a Mumbai pharma company Director Rakesh Upadhyay recalled a harrowing instance at an Oshiwara petrol pump, which was a messy hell, choked with muck, overflowing, no running water or toilet papers, dirty walls and defective locks, forcing him to go to a nearby mall.

Concurring, a Mira Road realtor, Dinesh Wagh said he’s always on the move with customers and has encountered such problems at fuel bunks on multiple occasions.

“The OMCs should deploy flying squads to make surprise checks on all petrol pumps at least once a week… It will ensure good services/facilities to all customers and the companies could earn lakhs of rupees every month in penalties,” Wagh suggested.