The city diaries 1: Focus and fill

I am starting a series about certain things I come across in Bangalore. Things which I think others should know and might help them in some way or other. This series might not be regular, you may expect random posts in between, however all related posts will be named as 'The city diaries'. These posts are supposed to be informative, hoping to add a tint of positivity.

I have been a resident of Bangalore for the last 8 months only and one of the first things we possessed here was a bike. Since then I've been riding an average of 40 kilometres everyday, mostly to work. Riding is an exhausting task in Bangalore traffic, unless you do not care about traffic rules and fellow riders, like a good percentage of bike/scooter riders here. And when you think that you figured your way out around riding in Bangalore, another problem hits you; fuel.


Fuel prices are growing faster than an average Indian's dream of daily survival, but that's a national phenomena (yes, the survival too). This post is about a genuine fraudulent activity I came across in Bangalore fuel bunks or gas stations. It happened for the first time when I went to a bunk near Gokula extension, Bangalore for filling the petrol. I asked for a 500 rupees refill and as I was looking for my wallet, the electronic counter showed 100 rupees, and then the employees there told that the job is done. I thought they did not hear me well and repeated that I said 500 and not 100. They apologised, filled for 400 more and I left the gas station. The bike ran lesser kilometres compared to the petrol filled and I realized that I was conned by a couple of fuel bunk employees.

Then onwards I started experimenting with different fuel stations, to find the genuine ones and then I came across the second fraudulent event. This time it was a well known fuel station, near Banashankari and as I asked for a full tank refill, the person who was there to collect cash asked me if  I would like to pay with cash or card. I turned to look at him for a moment and the fuel counter showed 100 rupees. This time I did not want to let it go and asked them to teach me the trick of filling petrol for 100 bucks (that was around 1.7 litres at that time) in one second time. They duly apologized again and filled full tank, this time without paying anything extra.

By the time, I zeroed in on a couple of fuel stations which I can trust (one near PES institute, BSK 3rd stage, one near Infosys, Electronic city and occasionally Shell fuel stations also). However, very recently I had to visit a fuel bunk near Richmond circle and story repeated all over again. The only difference was the guys there were a little stupider. I gave them 500 rupees in advance to avoid the cash or card question and the imbecile immediately asked 'Sir, cash or card?' And when I looked at him and looked back at the counter it was 100 again! After giving them a little piece of my mind, I made them fill for 500 rupees and thought of letting the world know it.

I am not sure who all really are benefiting from this con art, but next time when you fill, focus.
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Image: Uploaded by Bubbels at sxc.hu

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