Cap aims to curb fuel price fluctuation

FUEL prices will need to be publicly reported and stay the same for 24 hours under changes by the State Government to curb fuel price fluctuation. Its Fair Fuel Plan aims to make it compulsory for more than 1500 fuel retailers across the state to provide their pricing data in real time. This data will then feed directly into a new fuel finder feature on the Service Victoria app, giving Victorians the opportunity to shop around for the best deal when they’re ready to fill up. Several regional service station managers said the measures would mainly be to monitor metropolitan service stations which are more prone to price fluctuations. "In NSW and we have to update pricing all the time and they thought it was going to be it a whiz bang thing to make the punter have cheaper prices, but it didn't really change anything," he said. "In the country I tend to find that we don't change our fuel prices as much and they're much more stable. "We don't have the highs and the lows they do down in Melbourne. "We don't cycle like they do in Melbourne, like 40 cents up in a week and then all of a sudden they're 40 cents down the following Tuesday. "I think that's what they're trying to get rid of." Mr Armstrong said people want to get their fuel at a good price and that's what APCO aims for. "We're always at the market edge in terms of pricing and we always try to keep it fair and reasonable," he said. Currently, fuel price reporting in Victoria is voluntary and while commercial price reporting websites exist, the Service Victoria fuel finder will include every fuel provider, won’t be advertiser funded, and will never promote one outlet over the other. Mr Armstrong said this could be more accurate as only operators of each service station would be able to update their fuel prices. The government said there is no intention to have a limit on a company reducing its fuel price. New regulations and legislation will be required, and work is currently underway to determine an appropriate enforcement structure and penalties for fuel retailers. The Service Victoria fuel finder will launch later this year.