Safety concerns over use of Caltex’s new payment app at petrol stations

CaltexGo, a newly launched mobile application, allows users to pay for their fuel without getting out of their vehicle.

This may be a great convenience and may increase the efficiency of petrol kiosk operations, but there may also be safety concerns over its usage.

Warning signs put up prominently at the pumps tell us that the use of mobile phones is prohibited in the area. This is because electromagnetic radiation from the phone may impart enough energy to ignite petrol vapour present in the vicinity, creating the risk of an explosion.

A past report by the United Kingdom Petroleum Industry Association brought up the risk of such incendive sparking. While it stated that there were no confirmed ignition incidents associated with mobile phones anywhere in the world, these phones are “not designed and certified for use in explosive atmospheres”, hence are “not intrinsically safe…and should not be used in those hazardous areas”. 

Rolling out the phone app for customers to use at the pumps seems to contradict the regulations we have adhered to for years.

Can Caltex shed light, and perhaps reassure users, on whether safety was taken into account when it decided to roll out the app?