I just caught the staff red-handed at Bharath Petroleum fuel station on Mount Road. They tried stealing Rs.700 worth of petrol. I paid Rs.2000 for the fuel and as the meter reached Rs.1300, one of the guys tried distracting me by asking me for my car number. Immediately, his accomplice manning the fuel pump stopped the pump and quickly reset the meter. As soon as the guy asked me for the number, I smelled a rat and saw the pump just when the guy was resetting it. I created a scene and the crowd started to gather. Others noticed what the guy did too. The BPCL employees panicked. I took photos and videos as evidence. Definitely escalating this to the Bharath Petroleum HQ. Please be careful the next time you fill in fuel. Watch out for those distractions.
This video explains how the guys at Bharath Petroleum fuel station cheat and rob your money. This incident took place at their Mount Road outlet near the old SUN TV office ( franchisee: Ashwini automobiles)
[subtitle2]Call From senior official (Bharat Petroleum Corporation LTD)[/subtitle2]UPDATE: A senior official from Bharat Petroleum Corporation LTD. called and requested for a meeting this afternoon. While it looks like a PR exercise, he hinted at larger changes planned. Keen to know what those will be. Will update post the meeting.
[subtitle2]Synopsis of discussion with Mr.Kshitij Midha, Area Sales Manager for South Chennai Bharat Petroleum Corporation LTD[/subtitle2]UPDATE: Just finished a meeting with the official from Bharath Petroleum. Here is the synopsis of our discussion.
The social media outrage coupled with the coverage in national dailies has brought this incident right up to the CMD and top management of Bharath Petroleum.
They requested Mr.Kshitij Midha, Area Sales Manager for South Chennai to meet me in person. He is incharge of overseeing 35 fuel stations, including the one where the incident took place. He came across as a very genuine guy.
The 35 stations he is incharge of sees an average of 4 lakh vehicles (yes, four lakhs) coming in every single day.
The BPCL official did an investigation with the owner and staff at Ashwini Automobiles (the franchisee who runs the fuel station). After cross examining, they did find the two men guilty and they have been fired from their jobs.
BPCL has given a written letter of complaint to owner of the Ashwini Automobiles (franchisee) which is the equivalent of warning. I was shown the two page letter. Could not take a photo of it as it was an internal document.
The hiring of the staff is done by the franchisee and BPCL has no direct control over them. Their only point of contact is the franchisee owner. In most cases, the franchisee hires uneducated, unskilled staff who are usually underpaid.
90% of the frauds happen in fuel stations that are not automated. However, automating the old petrol pumps takes lots of investment and time. It also depends on how viable that particular location is.
Most of the cheating is done with customers who come in four wheelers because the person in the car/SUV does not bother to either get out or look at the meter.
He advised to keep looking at the meter right from ‘zero’ until the final amount and not to take eyes off it. If someone interrupts, ask them to wait until the filling is done.
Another way these staff cheat is by pressing the ‘preset’ buttons for Rs.100, Rs.500 or Rs.1000. If you wanted fuel for Rs.500, half way through, they will press the preset button which will show Rs.500 in the display but only half the fuel would be filled. So, his advice is to ask for uneven numbers like Rs.535 or Rs.1385. It reduces the cheating level drastically.
BPCL has the official complaint numbers displayed in all petrol pumps but most of the customers don’t take the extra effort to lodge a complaint. He encouraged people to complain which will keep the staff grounded.
Even though there are opportunities for the consumers to check the quality and quantity of fuel, very rarely do people take the time to conduct these checks. To check quantity, there is the 5 litre can check and for quality it is the ‘filter paper’ check.
In the end, I requested him for two documents.
1) The steps that BPCL is taking in order to reduce and eliminate these frauds from their franchisee-run fuel stations.
2) Tips for consumers to follow at fuel stations so that they can catch these frauds.
Mr.Kshitij Midha promised he will follow-up and provide these two documents.
