Fuel Price Hike and the Chaos

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

The fuel prices across India were set to rise at midnight. Petrol is to get dearer by Rs. 5, diesel by Rs. 3 and LPG cylinders by Rs. 50 (news story). The official announcement was made around noon and soon it became the most common talk of the town. Fuel stations saw hordes of vehicles piling up to get their tanks full.

The petrol in Delhi would now cost Rs.50.52/litre. The chaos at petrol pumps was inevitable. Everyone was out there to save some bucks. I too went out at around 11:15pm, browsed through a few pumps - some of them were closed, some had put out-of-order notices on half of their vending machines resulting in long queues - finally, found a pump which was operating normally. I was successful in placing my vehicle just before the entry of the pump leaving behind those who were waiting before me.

I got my tank full and was billed just 10 minutes before midnight, i.e. at 11:50. Thus, was successful in saving Rs. 150 from the 30 litres of petrol I bought. There were others who could not make it to the midnight "deadline" due to the long waiting time.

The scene at the fuel station was both of chaos and excitement, wherein everyone coveted to fill in their tanks before the price hike. Here are some shots of "the fuel station @ the night before the price hike":

Cars moving into the fuel pump.

Queued up to get the sought after fuel.

The filling up of the tanks. It took around 10 minutes / car.

Finally, payments!

Location: Prem Service Station (Moolchand Petrol Pump)