By Muaz Shabandri www.khaleejtimes.com
Dubai — Long waiting times at petrol stations have become a frustrating experience for drivers across the UAE. Several motorists speaking to Khaleej Times confirmed experiencing longer waiting times at petrol stations recently.
“Sometimes I have to spend 20 minutes to fill petrol in the morning on my way to work. Most petrol stations are overflowing with cars and credit card payments make the problem worse. It takes more than three minutes to process a card payment, adding to the misery,” said Abdul Bari, a motorist in Dubai.
In August last year, petrol stations allowed motorists to use credit cards — with an additional fee of Dh2 levied to avail the service.
While the move was widely welcomed by commuters, card payments have extended payment processing time. Motorists paying by cards usually block the fuelling area for a further two to five minutes, which extend the waiting time.
“The simplest solution is to build more petrol stations, as we can clearly notice there aren’t enough petrol stations to meet the demand,” said Bari. “Why aren’t more stations built in major residential areas like Arabian Ranches, The Villa, Victory Heights and Jumeirah? Even places with heavy traffic like Emirates Road and Bypass Road have very few petrol stations.” More info
