Comment: India Oil Corporation Introduces Self Service in New Delhi

Indian Oil Corporation has introduced the concept  of self service at the fuel dispenser through a dealer-owned retail outlet in Delhi. Self service fuel dispensers will be a new concept for India as service station attendants are the normal operation at present.

 India’s unique demography, inexpensive labour force and legislation has kept self service out of fuel retail. However the India Oil Corporation initiative represents an important step in the Indian fuel retail market and it has implications for the introduction and implementation of technology. Although it does not mean that we will see a fast expansion of self service, overtime it should be allowed to develop in a pragmatic fashion across the industry.

PetrolWorld has written and spoken on this subject many times over the years in different continents and at different times of fuel retail development. In Europe, many progressive fuel brands have reintroduced attended service to certain sites as ancillary customer service, and to add an competitive edge over rivals. Attended, self service and unattended fuel service stations all have their place and role in the market. It does come down to cost and profitability of the business and how it works in your local area.  Combining the concept on different fuel dispenser islands has also been done.

I look forward to catching up on the progress of self service and many other issues at the PetrolWorld APAC Business Forum which will be held in Goa, India next February.

David Egan
Editor

Original PetrolWorld News story on "India Oil Corp Self Service"