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Abu Dhabi: Diesel will be sold at Abu Dhabi petrol stations through prepaid cards only from August 16, said a senior official at Adnoc Distribution, the sole distributor of petroleum products in the emirate.
Adnoc petrol stations will start selling diesel through the prepaid Rahal E-Diesel cards from Tuesday, but motorists can buy the fuel with cash until August 15.
The grace period is to allow people buy the prepaid cards.
The Rahal cards will be available in three categories.
In a statement, the unit of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) said that though its service stations will start selling diesel through the Rahal e-diesel cards Tuesday, a grace period up to August 15 is being given to the public which will allow them to buy diesel with cash and enable them to apply for their Rahal cards.
"The stations will not accept cash for diesel purchases after August 15," a senior Adnoc Distribution executive, familiar with the developments, told Gulf News.
"This is being done to build a system for diesel transactions. We want to regularise a system for the purchase of diesel at the stations and to reduce congestion," he said.
A Dh50 issuance fee will be charged for all new Rahal e-diesel cards. There will be three Rahal categories - 600 gallons per month for cars, buses and trucks below three tonnes, 900 gallons a month for cars, buses and trucks heavier than three tonnes but up to five tonnes and 1,500 gallons per month for cars, buses and trucks above five tonnes.
All Rahal e-diesel cards must be paid in advance at the specific Adnoc Distribution service stations. Only cash will be accepted and the minimum recharge amount will be Dh100.
In case of card cancellation, a refund of the balance will only be made if the remaining amount is above Dh100.
Rahal e-diesel cards will be issued during working hours from 8am to 1pm at the Adnoc Distribution head office in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Western Region - Madinat Zayed and Sharjah (northern emirates).
The cards will be also issued at 57 other locations designated by Adnoc Distribution, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. These locations are in Abu Dhabi, the Western Region, Al Ain and the northern emirates.
Adnoc's move follows a similar initiative taken last year by Emirates General Petroleum (EGPC) and Emirates National Oil Company - the two Dubai-based gasoline retailers - banning cash payments in order to promote their loyalty cards.
Do you think this would curb illegal trade practices? Or is it just cumbersome for drivers? Should petroleum retailers take advantage of this and promote their products? Why? Tell us at letter2editor@gulfnews.com or fill in the form bellow to send your comments.
Your comments
This is a real stupid thing. A new method to take more money from us.
They will never stop , they are dreaming only MOOOONEY!Is time to go!
GASIROCO
ABU DHABI,U.A.E
Posted: August 05, 2008, 10:56
It has nothing to do with "Illegal trade", that cannot be stopped because of the incentives and gas and diesel prices in the market. It is an economic move to profit more out of the business. With prepaid cards, that can ONLY be used for diesel from ADNOC, ADNOC knows that the money refilled in the card is eventually coming into their pockets. Otherwise why not just simply accept credit cards? The world is moving ahead making plastic money the base of transactions but UAE is moving backwards with restricting its use by not accepting credit cards in their gas stations, that is ridiculous. This way the economy will suffer in the long-run. There are already too many cards to carry in a wallet that has only a few pockets. I say credit cards should be the means of transactions in the new era of economic prosperity.
Hassan
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 05, 2008, 10:35
If this step is taken to curb the illegal trade of diesel, then it won't work. Illegal trade will remain a problem for the authorities, because "illegal trade" does not require "legal" means to trade, there are several ways to loop around the regulations. As far as Rahal e-card is concerned, I think it is a good step towards bringing the technology in use since many people hardly carry cash with them nowadays due to security, safety, theft and easy availability of plastic money. The world is moving towards plastic money but UAE lags behind by far, for example when paying for gasoline, only cash accepted? That is preposterous.
Hassan
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 05, 2008, 10:25
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