Abu Dhabi: Motorists in the UAE who have long enjoyed their fuel tanks being filled by service workers at petrol stations will now have to pay for such services starting in mid-April, as Adnoc Distribution rolls out its new premium and self-service options across their stations.
Residents who spoke with Gulf News have mixed thoughts on the development, with many saying they would opt for the premium option to keep things the same — albeit with the added costs now — while others said they would have no problem with switching to the new self-service.
“I think from the perspective of the employees who work at these petrol stations, this is a good thing for them as well. Having a self-service option makes it easier for them and reduces their workload; it also has the advantage of reducing the needed manpower at the stations. For example if you have 15 workers, you can, maybe, take it down to eight because you don’t need as many now with the self-service option,” he added.
Al Ali went on to say that separate self-serving lines should also be provided for women.
“From the cultural side, people might have some questions, they might say how can you let the women go out to put petrol in her own car. In this case, I think it might be appropriate to have a designated line for women only, something like a pink section, and this will be reserved for women,” he said.
Zayed Za’abi, an Emirati university student, said that women should be exempt from the self-service options.
“I think for the women, it should remain free. For the men, it’s not a problem but, for women, I would say they should have the same services as they do now as a consideration for cultural norms and feelings. Not all women will like to go out of their car and have everybody looking,” he said.
Speaking of himself, Za’abi said that he would use the premium service once it comes into effect.
“Personally I will use the premium service and it’s mainly because of the weather. In the hot months, you will come out of your car and immediately your clothes will get wet and so it’s not really convenient.”
Sharif Al Gharabawy, an Egyptian managing director, also said he would use the premium services because of the hot weather and to save time.
“In the summer time, it will be really difficult to get out of your car and to pump your own fuel, the temperature gets even hotter with the car engine running so it’s not easy to just get out of your car and do it yourself.
“Sometimes you are also in a rush and you’re busy, you have a meeting to go to or any other work-related matter, and so it’s quicker to have the service station attendant pumping the fuel,” he added.
“Here in the UAE, we are very lucky because we have been given a lot of good services for free, and so I don’t see the problem with having to spend a little money to have someone pumping fuel into our cars.
“This is a real service that has been provided to us for so long at our convenience for free, we should now be able to give something back. The other thing is that they are not forcing you to spend money because they also give you the choice of the self-service option; if someone doesn’t want the expenses, they can do it by themselves for free,” he added.
