No cash flow from fuel pumps yet

AHMEDABAD: Even 48 hours after the announcement that cash could be obtained from fuel stations of

state-run oil companies

, it remained merely an announcement. Fuel station staffers in the city are refusing to allow debit cards to be swiped for Rs 2,000 in cash, stating that they don't have State Bank of India point of sale (POS) machines.

Many fuel station owners decline by simply saying that they were not authorized to give cash for debit card swipes.Random checks at state company-run petrol pumps at Manav Mandir, Vastrapur lake, Mansi Crossroads, Jodhpur Crossroads and even CG Road, drew the same answer, “We haven't received the machine yet and hence cash cannot be paid out.“

At almost all of these places, the staffers refused to identify themselves, saying the owners told them not to speak to anyone. “We have been told that if any one comes for cash, say there is no machine available,“ an employee of a fuel bunk near Jodhpur said.

Arvind Thakkar, president of the Federation of

Gujarat Petroleum Dealers Associa

tions said: “Gujarat will not benefit from this move as most petrol pumps use POS machines of private-sector banks. Of the 3,000 petrol pumps in the state, the number of pumps using SBI machines is very small. In all of Delhi there are just five SBI machines, so this the move will take its own sweet time for implementation,“ said. Thakkar.

However, Mayur Mehta, the owner of

Associated Petroleum Corporation

at CG Road, said, “SBI will have to supply POS (point of sale) machines to fuel station de alers and only after that will cash withdrawal will be possible. SBI supplies POS machines in rural areas only where there is a lack of banking facilities. Once these are installed, citizens will be able to get change by swiping debit or credit cards.“ Mehta however said the move will not help pe ople who are queueing up to have notes exchanged.

Rajesh Shah, who went to a fuel station for cash, said: “I have been going from one petrol pump to another for cash, but no one provided it. At the Indian Oil station in Ambawadi, the employee told me that there was no machine but I could see a machine with an SBI sticker.“