Dubai: Following Emirates National Oil Company’s (Enoc) announcement in April about the introduction of self-service refuelling options for motorists, Eppco (Emirates Petroleum Product Company) announced on Thursday that it is following suit.
In an introductory move to slowly phase in self-serve gas pumps, Eppco said it will begin self-service in July, from midnight until 6 am, at 10 stations along Al Wasl Road, Oud Metha Road, Jumeirah Beach Road, Mankhool Road, Al Nahda Road, Nadd Al Hammar and Al Qusais.
Full-time staff will be on hand to assist motorists make the transition from full-service to self-service, the company said in a statement on Thursday.
The firm said that “service staff will support customers with the self-service fuel dispensing system that is being introduced in July 2013.”
The company said it is keeping staff on standby during the pilot campaign in response to concerns raised by customers.
“At the 10 sites, which have been chosen for the relatively low vehicular traffic during night hours, customers can fill fuel themselves and only have to pay cash inside the Zoom store. The sites selected for the self-serve fuel system have been modernised with advanced fuel dispenser system and other support functions that will make filling fuel easier for motorists,” the company said in a statement.
Self-serve introduction at some stations will not see the laying off of existing staff, the company said, noting that the move would “result in no staff redundancies as affected staff members will be deployed in other stations within the network.”
In late April, (Enoc) confirmed that it was ushering in the self-service option at 10 of its stations citing the move as a way to improve efficiencies within the company. Officials with Enoc said at the time that the 12 am to 6 am time slot for the phase-in would give motorists time to learn and adjust to the changes. According to Enoc, the changes did not lead to any inconvenience for the public.
