Starting tomorrow, May 10, people may face difficulties while buying petrol and diesel at fuel stations.
Most customers now use UPI for payments at petrol pumps. However, from May 10, UPI payments might not be accepted at many pumps.
The reason behind this is a protest by petrol pump owners in Maharashtra. They are upset because some of their bank accounts were frozen due to links with cyber fraud cases.
According to a Times of India report, Uday Lodh from the Federation of Maharashtra Petrol Dealers Association said that if the government doesn’t step in, this protest could affect several districts, including Mumbai.
The protest is expected to happen on May 10 and may last for a day. Lodh mentioned that fraud-related money was found in a few petrol pump accounts, so the banks froze those accounts.
This has frustrated many pump owners who rely heavily on digital payments. Many affected pumps are in the Vidarbha region, where the protest may start.
Lodh added that pump owners simply sell fuel and should not be held responsible for tracing how the customer paid.
Cashless Payments Likely to Be Stopped
Sources in the association revealed that some petrol pump owners in Nagpur plan to stop accepting digital payments starting May 10.
These pumps will sell fuel only for cash. This decision is being made because most of the frauds happened through digital methods like UPI, credit cards, and debit cards.
Frustration Over Bank Charges
Chetan Modi, President of the Petrol Dealers Association in Mumbai, said that the protest is also against high bank charges and fees by digital payment service providers.
Many times, the full amount paid by customers doesn’t reach the pump owner’s account due to these deductions.
Sources said that at least two petrol pump owners became victims of fake digital payments made using stolen or cloned UPI IDs and cards.
While investigating agencies have called these pump owners “beneficiaries” of the fraud, they insist they are innocent.
Uday Lodh explained that about 50–55% of transactions at petrol pumps are now done without cash, and pump owners don’t have records of who made the payment.
