Lucknow petrol pump owners bring admin to knees before ending strike; no FIR, no arrest even if found guilty

Lucknow-based Petrol Pump owners ended their strike at around 12 noon on Tuesday morning after holding talks with district officials. 

Petrol Pump owners had said that STF crackdown has scared away the petrol pump workers, making them unable to run the day-to-day operations. District officials have ensured the owners that STF will not harass the petrol pump staff, sources said. 

Petrol Pump owners might have ended their strike, but not before bringing district administration to their knees.

The conditions put forward by petrol pump association allows them to eat their cake and have it too. 

The conditions allow petrol pump owners to get away with little punishment even if they are caught cheating customers with the chip. 

1) Only nozels or device found with chip will be sealed, not the entire petrol pump 

2) Neither employee or petrol pump owner will be arrested even if a theft device is found in petrol pump 

3) No FIR will be registered for cheating customers even if proof is found

4) If caught red-handed, there will be an enquiry and no actiuon will be taken till report comes out.  

Lucknow: Petrol pump owners call off their strike over raids at petrol pumps by UP STF after meeting of DM & petrol pump association pic.twitter.com/K1ZC3wZ5jP

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 2, 2017

Read | UP STF arrests 23 people in petrol pump cheating case

Late night decision of Petrol Pump owners to go on a strike to protest the government crackdown on malpractices had crippled life in the Uttar Pradesh capital. 

Since the decision was taken late on night, most of the people did not get a chance to fill up their fuel tanks and thus are left with no way to drop their children to school or make it the office. 

According to reports, public sector companies owned petrol pumps were still open. And since such petrol pumps are few in numbers, a huge crowd has gathered outside these pumps to avail the fuel. 

Petrol pumps reopened at 12 noon. 

The Chip scam 

In a shocking revelation, the Special Task Force (SP) of Uttar Pradesh Police unearthed a scam where at least eight petrol pumps in Lucknow were using a chip to cheat the costumers.

The STF conducted raids at the petrol pumps on Thursday after receiving a tip off and recovered electronic chips at few pumps. Several persons were detained from the petrol pump near King George Medical University in Lucknow.

The petrol was being sifted using an electronic device, STF sources said. It was found that around 50 ml petrol per litre was being stolen by the petrol pump staff.

The chip costs about Rs 3,000. A racket of petrol pump owners, involved in using the chip in the machines to dupe customers, has been busted.

Video | Petrol pumps in UP using electronic chip to steal fuel and dupe customers, reveals Special Task Force