On the recently launched comparison platform of the Touringclub Schweiz for fuel prices, the prices of a large majority of Swiss petrol stations have come together within a short period of time. The platform is not based on reporting obligations, but on swarm intelligence.
Motorists get more transparency about fuel prices.
The majority in the Federal Parliament wants to be seen doing something to dampen fuel prices – without undermining the market signals with a state price cap. This desire for symbolic politics is probably the core motive behind the demands of both chambers of parliament for a state online comparison platform for fuel prices based on the Austrian model.
Who Austria’s state «fuel price calculator» clicks and enters his location, sees a map section with nearby petrol stations. The calculator is based on a price reporting requirement for all petrol stations in the country. The portal is intended to create price transparency, thereby stimulating competition and driving down prices. The restriction of the publication to the five cheapest prices in the vicinity of the relevant location is intended to prevent providers from aligning their pricing «upwards». The price effect of the portal is unclear, but the research literature suggests a certain price-dampening effect.
The Swiss Parliament now wants the same thing. The Council of States had a corresponding in September Motion clearly assumed the National Council supported one this week practically the same approach in terms of content with a wafer-thin majority. The result in the National Council was narrower than expected because only about 60 percent of the Mitte parliamentary group agreed – although the Mitte was the originator of the initiatives on this topic. A major factor behind the recent doubts is likely the private comparison portal of the Swiss Touring Club (TCS), launched at the end of November be. If private companies set up a comprehensive and reliable comparison platform, the demand for a state portal is no longer necessarily a hit from the perspective of the political election campaign.
Over 3000 petrol stations recorded
But does the new TCS portal provide the price transparency desired by Parliament? Conditions would be broad coverage with ongoing updating. A private comparison portal cannot order the gas stations, but only create reporting incentives. There have already been private petrol price portals, but a comprehensive portal with rapid price updates was a long time coming. For example, if you clicked on Thursday benzin-preis.chwhen entering the Bern location for premium unleaded petrol, a list appeared with just over 30 petrol stations, and the prices listed were largely from earlier years.
The TCS has with its new “Gasoline Price Radar” achieve high coverage in a short period of time. According to previous estimates, there are a total of around 3,300 petrol stations in Switzerland. This estimate must now be corrected upwards, since according to its own statements, the TCS had already recorded around 3450 petrol stations on its portal by Wednesday of this week, of which 3180 petrol stations already contained a price indication. The number of gas stations recorded is still increasing.
With swarm intelligence
The system is based on swarm intelligence. Whether consumers, petrol station owners or anyone else who is interested: In principle, everyone can not only call up prices on the platform, but also change prices from petrol stations themselves – or confirm previously published prices if nothing has changed. According to TCS, there are two conditions for access to price entries: You have to register on the platform and you can only enter price information from petrol stations that are in the immediate vicinity of the sender at the time of recording. The second requirement is implemented by GPS tracking via mobile phone and is intended to prevent users from playing tricks with the portal.
According to TCS, more than 14,000 users have already registered in the two weeks since the official launch. The platform has so far recorded a good 1.5 million page views. Before the official launch, the TCS started with a beta version that was only accessible to around 1700 TCS employees. At the time of the official launch, around half of the petrol stations surveyed had a price indication.
According to TCS, several thousand price data have been registered every day since the launch. This Wednesday alone there were over 8,000 that affected more than 1,100 gas stations. Who on the Internet link of the price radar clicks, first sees a map of Switzerland with the cheapest prices in different regions. And this for various fuels such as unleaded 95 petrol, diesel, natural gas and liquid gas. By clicking on the region you are looking for, it appears with more detailed information.
After several clicks, the individual petrol stations, their prices and the time of the last update are displayed. For example, five petrol stations with prices between 1.69 and 1.84 francs for unleaded 95 petrol were visible in the area around Zurich Enge on Thursday; the most recent update time indicated ranged from «an hour ago» to «a day ago». In rural areas, the pace is almost naturally more leisurely. In the small Jura commune of Boncourt, for example, three gas stations appeared on Thursday; their published prices had been updated or confirmed three, five or thirteen days ago. To put this in context: According to TCS, in the crisis year 2022, Swiss petrol stations changed their prices about once a week on average. In a “normal” year, price changes are about half as frequent.
Ongoing adjustments
The price comparison portal should be continuously improved based on the feedback. Things seem to have got off to a promising start. With its 1.5 million members, the TCS can count on a large circle of potential contributors. However, it is an open question how the enthusiasm of the public for price reports will develop in the long term.
The Federal Parliament will probably make a definitive decision in March on the proposals for a state fuel price calculator. The experiences of the first few months with the private TCS portal could play an important role.