Pre-paid fuel scheme trialled in Sydney
Motorists in our area may soon have to pay for their fuel before filling up at the bowser, following the introduction of a pre-paid trial in Sydney.
Police from Bankstown and Liverpool will launch a pre-paid fuel scheme to be trialled at selected service stations in their Commands over the next six months.
NSW Police says the trial is part of a ‘six-point plan’ announced by Minister for Police Carl Scully to reduce the number of drive offs from service stations and the stealing of number plates from motor vehicles. These trends have been observed across the State.
The trial will commence today with service stations participating on a voluntary basis. In the Liverpool and Bankstown Local Area Command’s there are 15 and 35 service stations, respectively, taking part in the trial.
Bankstown Local Area Commander, Superintendent Dave Darcy, said the basic premise of the scheme is that motorist will be required to pay for their fuel and other items before they are permitted to fill up their vehicles.
“The key times for drive-off offences have been identified as occurring between 4.30pm- 9.30pm and we’ll be encouraging the service stations to use pre-paid at these times,” he said.
Arrangements for the way the trial is conducted will be determined by the needs and locality of each service station and its proprietors.
