Abu Dhabi: Starting June 30, motorists will pay Dh10 extra if they want a petrol-station attendant to fill their vehicles with gasoline at Adnoc petrol stations. Adnoc petrol stations in the emirate of Abu Dhabi will charge the fee, Adnoc Distribution announced on Tuesday.

Elderly drivers and persons with disabilities will not be required to pay the fee.

From mid-April, the Adnoc Distribution introduced customers at its service stations in Abu Dhabi to the new “Premium Service” for a small fee.

For self-serve option which is free, the firm offered motorists training how to use the pumps and insert the nozzle into vehicles.

Adnoc Distribution has divided the activation of new services in three clusters – Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi region and northern emirates. First it will start from Abu Dhabi from June 30. The northern emirates are under study and Adnoc officials said that they have started the pilot projects there to train customers in self-service before introducing petrol-attendant fees.

Adnoc said it will give rewards for premium service users that can subsequently be redeemed through their receipts at Adnoc in-store and car wash discounts.

However, the elderly and People of Determination will be exempt from paying the premium service fee.

The premium rewards include coffee, snacks or a discount on an in-station car wash, can be redeemed in Adnoc Distribution stores using the Flex Premium service receipt, following the fuel purchase.

The rewards can be redeemed within 30 days of the initial purchase.

Announcing details of Adnoc Flex services, Saeed Mubarak Al Rashdi, Acting CEO of Adnoc Distributions, said, “Adnoc Distribution is focused on moving our business model to a smarter, customer-centric model which offers customers choice, convenience and better quality goods and services. Customer satisfaction and safety are our priorities with technology central to the value proposition.”

The chip near the fuel tank of the vehicles that will be installed by the technical staff of the Adnoc Distribution after Smart Tag Registration. Abdul Rahman/Gulf News

How does it work?

“Smart Tag” is a new payment option that enables customers to quickly refuel and pay without using cash or bank cards.

The technology is based on a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag being fixed to a vehicle to automatically trigger payment from your pre-paid Adnoc wallet, which can also be connected to other payment options including the Emirates ID card or Adnoc Plus card.

The registration, activation and obtaining the smart tag is free for the first 200,000 customers, while later motorists will be charged Dh50 for a smart tag activation. They hope to install 200,000 tags by end of the year.

Officials clarified that in case a person sells his car, the owners can deactivate the tag and reactivate it in other car, which he owns, without additional charge.

Those who are interested to apply for Adnoc wallet can register online on Adnoc Distribution’s official website www.adnocdistribution.ae or at of the company’s smart service centres.

Now customers don’t need to go outside their vehicles to enter pin for their credit card payments as Adnoc introduced new mobile payment machines. Earlier it used to be fixed at the terminal.

Adnoc has 362 retail fuel stations in the emirates of Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, in each of which the company is sole fuel retailer, and in the emirates of Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain.