Price tracker promises cheaper petrol

A new mobile phone app is promising to help drivers save money at the petrol pump.

But motoring groups warn that the price tracker, developed by Woolworths, could steer consumers in the wrong direction.

Instead of driving past petrol price boards, the supermarket giant is offering a real-time alternative on its shopping app.

The standard price sits at the top of the application and the discount price at the bottom.

In smaller print it shows what the competition is charging.

It’s updated every 15 minutes, but its limited to competitors within a three kilometre radius, using an average of their prices, and not including independent servo's.

But motoring experts are warning drivers not to get conned, and say you should keep shopping around.

"They're not independent and the question is “are they going to present the full picture?" Andrew McKellar from the Australian Automobile Association said.

But Woolworths says that customers may make an informed choice to go elsewhere, if the independent service stations are cheaper than what they’re offering.

Whether you use the old method or try the new-tech option, right now the result should be the same because over the next three weeks petrol prices are expected to fall.

"Probably over the next week or so..we might see it come down as much as five cents," NRMA spokeswoman Wendy Machin said.