By AIDAN KNIGHT
REGULATIONS concerning fuel retailers have come into play across Victoria, requiring mandatory fuel price reporting.
The new system, introduced last August, requires all fuel retailers to register with Services Victoria and report any price changes immediately.
The state government states the new rules are in place to help reduce costs for families.
These laws argue that by allowing Victorians to “make informed choices about where to refuel”, there will be more power in their hands to find the cheapest fuel in their area, which in turn drives competition between fuel retailers to perhaps drop their prices to be the more appealing option.
Many motorists have already been doing this however, making use of community-run apps and websites like ‘PetrolSpy’, ‘Motormouth’, and ‘Gasmoney’.
Services Victoria plans to soon remove the need for a dedicated app, by integrating a new Fuel Finder feature into the Service Victoria app, the same application that holds Victorians’ digital driver’s licenses, and was used for their COVID check in at the height of the pandemic. This tool, like those separate existing examples, will allow drivers to view and compare real-time petrol prices across the state, aiming to help Victorians ensure transparency and competition in the retail fuel market, for the close to 1300 retailers already onboard.
Perri Hortis, owner of Fast & Ezy Moe on Saviges Road, had a local perspective to offer.
“I’ve not been notified by the government at all,” he said, only first hearing about it when approached for comment by the Express.
“I had to ring up my fuel supplier, and he goes, ‘Yeah, we only found out the day it actually happened.'”
Not a fan of the mandatory reporting, Mr Hortis sees it simply as extra workload for his business, for little or no benefit, and as such thinks it should be scrapped.
“Some people do look at PetrolSpy and stuff like that. There’s other apps out there that obviously display the daily fuel prices,” he said.
“So people who are price-conscious are looking at it now, but I don’t think this changes anything for them. Obviously, there’s a very small percentage of people who do use the apps at the moment, but the existing ones suit their needs, and most people don’t care. It might affect people in Melbourne a bit more, but in the country here, people don’t care.”
According to Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) data, Melbourne motorists could have saved up to $333 in 2023 by filling up during the lowest point of fuel price cycles and shopping around for the cheapest fuel.
The government said the early rollout of reporting requirements was designed to ensure full retailer compliance before the Fuel Finder feature officially launches later this year.
However, not everyone is convinced the move will benefit motorists.
For more information on the new regulations, visit consumer.vic.gov.au
Fuel giants Shell, Mobil and BP were all reached for comment by the Express, but did not reply.
