Motorists will benefit from fairer prices at the petrol pump this Easter due to the State Government’s fuel pricing blitz.
South Australia’s consumer watchdog, Consumer and Business Services (CBS) will target the state’s tourism hotspots before Easter to enforce petrol price reporting rules.
Starting this week, state-wide inspections will target service stations within regions which are popular tourism destinations over the upcoming Easter long weekend including the South East.
Under the fuel pricing information scheme, fuel retailers are required to report their prices to a central database within 30 minutes of changing the price at the pump.
Mount Gambier has the cheapest country petrol in South Australia on average due to a healthy market meaning fuel is often better than most other cities by 2-3 cents on average.
RAA senior mobility manager Mark Borelace said he believed the fuel pricing blitz will be a positive move for consumers.
“What the state government are doing, well there is a whole heap of cost-of-living pressures, but they are just having their officers out making sure everybody is complying,” he said.
“I assume it is a bit of a warning shot to say, ‘make sure you are getting your prices in on time and the correct prices in there’.”
Mr Borelace said if the petrol prices followed their usual ‘fortnightly rhythm’ motorists can expect to see prices peak today or tomorrow.
“If they interrupt that cycle like they have last couple of times it could still be cheap in Adelaide over Easter,” he said.
“What we have seen over Christmas and the last long weekend is they have not spiked; they have held that low price for between four and eight days and that is presumably to keep people coming into the business for the other things during that break.
“It is about using an app if they are coming into town to make sure they can see what that price is and if it is cheaper at Keith or one of those, fill up on the way through.
“If you have not got the app you will not be able to see any of those prices to make your planning.
“Even within Mount Gambier, you can have a 3-7 cent variation across the city as well so it’s not just if you are travelling out of Mount Gambier, it is still worthwhile doing it (using a fuel app) even when you are shopping in Mount Gambier.”
Drivers can access free fuel price information via fuel price apps including Petrol Spy, Motor Mouth, myRAA, SA Bowser: Should I Fuel?, Fuel Price Australia and Pumped, which can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play.
