The news source noted that Informed Sources seeks to provide oil industry clients with accurate and timely data from more than 3,500 retail sites across major Australian cities, every 15 minutes, for a considerable subscription fee.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has expressed its concerns over the service, saying that such a subscription-based system gives larger oil companies an unfair advantage over smaller rivals, who cannot afford to use the service. Subscribers publish their prices on the website and also have access to data provided by competitors.
The ACCC’s fuel-price inquiry advised that the web-based service increases the risk of anti-competitive collusion in the retail fuel market, unjustly allowing larger players access to strategic real-time data not available to smaller retailers and motorists, according to PetrolWorld.
The news source quoted the Australian Petrol Commissioner, Pat Walker, as saying that, while there is no evidence that consumer laws have been contravened, anti-competitive concerns remain.
Mr Walker added that Informed Sources reduced the fuel retailers’ incentive to discount and increases the scope for price manipulation, given the real-time nature of the system.
