S'pore motorists can compare fuel prices, discounts using new website

SINGAPORE — Motorists can now compare fuel prices offered by different retailers to seek out the cheapest deal by using a website called Fuel Kaki, launched on Monday (Jan 13) by the consumer watchdog.

Users of Fuel Kaki can compare prices for different types of petrol grades across retailers such as Caltex, Esso and Shell.

They can also factor in discounts, rebates and cashbacks of different retailers to get the estimated amount they need to pay.

Fuel Kaki was launched by the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) with the support of the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS).

It was created after a CCCS market inquiry in 2017 on retail petrol prices in Singapore found that consumers who compare fuel prices can enjoy “substantial savings”.

The inquiry also found that because petrol retailers have different terms and conditions for various promotion schemes, comparing petrol prices can be difficult.

“With so many different credit card discounts and promotions, it can be challenging for motorists to make effective comparison,” said Mr Melvin Yong, vice president of Case, in a media statement on Monday.

“Fuel Kaki aims to provide motorists with timely information on pump prices and promotions for easy comparison, thus helping motorists to stretch their dollar when they refuel.”

Case said ExxonMobil Asia Pacific, the owner of the Esso network of petrol stations, had agreed to supply the relevant information to the website. For the other retailers, Case said it would “endeavour to check on such pricing and promotion information” and update the website accordingly.

Sales manager Lena Ow Zeng Teeng, 40, told TODAY that she would try Fuel Kaki as it might be helpful to save fuel costs, but she expects that she might not save much.

She said that usually, when she compares discounts in fuel prices between fuel retailers, the difference is about 2 per cent, which she does not consider to be significant.

But another driver, Mr Sajjad Parmar, 40, who works as the Head of Asia Pacific of Ebay, said that he would be unlikely to use Fuel Kaki as he already has a membership with the Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC), which gives him customer loyalty discounts.

“I do not have the time to compare prices. At most, I compare them once every three weeks or a month,” he said.

He added that he would continue to pump petrol at SPC as it has many petrol stations near his house.