Bengaluru police’s plan to enforce a ‘no helmet, no petrol’ rule for bikers from Monday, August 5, may not go according to plan as a section of petrol pump owners have expressed reservations on the same.
“We are fine with an awareness campaign in petrol stations targeting people found without helmets. People need to be told why helmets are important. This is a gradual process. But, we don’t have the right to refuse these customers. Fuel is an essential commodity. There is no legal basis to deny them fuel,” Ravi Hamsa from the Bengaluru Petrol Bunks Owners told The Hindu.
He added, “Nearly 60% of customers in petrol stations are two-wheeler owners, and more than half of these are regular customers who live in the neighbourhood. By suddenly implementing a ban, we may see arguments.”
As reported earlier, there is no law that can allow implementation of this rule. Instead, police were seeking cooperation of the petrol pump owners for a good cause.
The owners however said that they were willing to start an awareness drive of their own and urged the police to install CCTV cameras to catch the defaulters.
“We support police’s intention. However, it’s not practically feasible for us to force customers to wear helmets. It will lead to conflicts between our sales team and customers. Instead, we suggested that police install CCTV cameras, regularly scrutinise them, identify the defaulters and book cases online. We are ready to provide free electricity and internet for the same. This could be rolled out in a fortnight,” Tharanath A, vice-president of Akhila Karnataka Federation of Petroleum Traders, told The Times of India..