Fuel prices: Jacinta Allan unveils plan to limit price gouging at Victorian petrol stations

More than 1500 fuel retailers across the state could also be forced to publicly announce their prices 24 hours in advance in a dramatic market intervention by the Allan government.

Victorian petrol stations will be forced to set a daily fuel price and announce it 24 hours in advance under a dramatic market intervention by the Allan government.

In what Premier Jacinta Allan has spruiked as a major cost of living measure ahead of the upcoming Werribee by-election, the ‘Fair Fuel Plan’ will require the more than 1500 fuel retailers across the state to publicly announce their prices in real time.

That data will be fed directly into a new fuel finder feature on the Service Victoria app to give Victorian motorists the opportunity to shop around for the best deal.

Those prices will then be locked in and frozen for 24 hours.

Ms Allan made the announcement on Monday morning at Victoria University’s Werribee campus just weeks before voters in Melbourne’s west head back to the polls.

“You know how much fuel prices fluctuate – under our plan, you can find out tomorrow’s fuel price at every single servo on your route to work and make your decisions accordingly,” she said.

“We know this won’t change everything for families who are doing it tough, but these savings can add up to hundreds of dollars a year.

“This isn’t about punishing retailers, this is about helping motorists.”

More than 1500 fuel retailers across Victoria could soon have to announce their prices at the bowser 24-hours in advance. Picture: file image

The NRMA wrote to the government in October last year calling for real-time data reforms to be introduced.

On Monday, NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said he was “thrilled”.

“This announcement takes the power out of the hands of oil companies and places it firmly in the hands of families desperately looking to save at the bowser,” he said.

“Families will no longer have to guess where to fill up as they will be able to access the price of every service station in real-time – this will deliver equal benefit to families in Melbourne and regional Victoria.”

An RACV spokeswoman said it needed to “look at the detail” being proposed by the Victorian government.

“RACV supports any measure that brings down the cost of fuel and provides Victorian motorists with savings at the fuel pump,” she said.

“Government intervention in price setting and mandatory reporting does not always result in a benefit for customers.”

Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association (ACAPMA) CEO Mark McKenzie warned the measure could inadvertently push up fuel prices.

“Where price transparency laws are properly considered and implemented, they work well in making it easier for consumers to find the cheapest fuel prices … But where they are poorly implemented, these government interventions in an openly competitive market risk unintended adverse consequences that could actually increase average fuel prices in metropolitan areas,” he said.

“Locking in prices for 24-hour periods limits the ability of the aggressive fuel discounters to further discount their prices if they discover that they are similar to that of their competitors, which means that they may well adopt more conservative pricing strategies.”

Opposition Leader Brad Battin said the government had failed to provide any key details about how the plan will work or whether it received any advice about the effect of the policy.

“The proposed ‘Fair Fuel Plan’ is anti-competitive and desperate politics brought to you by a government that can’t deliver a major project or upgrade Myki machines. Yet they expect us to believe they’ll have this up and running in a few months,” he said.

“The Liberals and Nationals are committed to reducing the cost of living through well thought policies which will deliver real outcomes. We are supportive of any tool that provides more information to consumers. In fact, we proposed such a policy at the last election which would have allowed motorists to see real time fuel prices.

“Our focus will be on cutting red tape for small and medium businesses – not thought bubbles.”