Frequently Asked Questions
Where does fuel price information come from?
In order to regulate fuel prices, to limit exaggerated margins impacting purchasing power, and quite simply to bring competition into play,
by ministerial decree of 12/12/2006 amended on 04/04/2009, any manager of a fuel point of sale is obliged to declare the selling prices charged for the following fuels:
- Lead Free 95 (E5)
- Lead Free 95 E10 (SP95-E10)
- Lead Free 98 (E5)
- Diesel fuel (B7)
- Super ethanol (E85)
- Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)
The obligation concerns distribution points that have delivered at least 500 m3 of fuel.
Non-compliance with this obligation by the manager is punishable by a fine, with price controls being carried out regularly by the DGCCRF.
The government website prix-carburants.gouv.fr provides this data on fuel prices freely and free of charge.
The data from the instantaneous feed, which exposes the information in real time, is thus exploited by this website plein-moins-cher.fr, and formatted on dynamic interactive maps.
How reliable are the prices presented?
Updating the sale price on the government system is the responsibility of the station manager, as soon as he makes a price change.
The reliability of the price reported to the government information system is based on the honesty of the manager, knowing that regular checks are carried out by the DGCRF.
There is generally a price update at least once a week, several times a week in some cases.
plein-moins-cher.fr takes care to indicate the date/time of the information, allowing the user of the site to judge the age of the update.
We can see price entry seniorities exceeding 10 days, sometimes even 30 days.
In this case, it may be a price that has remained unchanged.
It may also be stations that are unavailable, temporarily or permanently closed, the information not having been sent to the government site.
In the case of a price whose proven seniority exceeds 60 days (2 months), plein-moins-cher.fr does not take into account the service station concerned, it is not not displayed on the map, the information being considered unreliable.
How often are fuel prices updated?
Managers of fuel outlets are required to declare price changes on the government site as soon as the new sales prices are effective.
plein-moins-cher.fr updates all fuel prices every 10 minutes, so as to reflect as closely as possible the regular price changes made by service stations.
I can't find my gas station on the map
There can be several reasons for this absence:
- Your distribution point may be brand new and has not yet delivered at least 500m3 of fuel, the threshold making it mandatory to declare its selling prices on the government site,
- The price declaration is too old (over 60 days), the service station is then deliberately hidden on the map, due to unreliable information.
I can't find my Premium fuel
Some service stations offer so-called "premium" additive fuels, such as "Excellium" Diesel.
These fuels are not part of the list of predefined fuels in the declaration proposed by the government site.
As a result, plein-moins-cher.fr does not have information on the price of these "premium" fuels, so they are not displayed.
The price displayed on plein-moins-cher.fr is not the one displayed in the resort
There could be several reasons for this price difference:
- Your distribution point has just changed its sale price, the new price is taken into account under plein-moins-cher.fr and is effective within 10 minutes at the most,
- The manager has entered an incorrect price on the government site, this error will undoubtedly be quickly corrected,
- The service station does not declare its prices on the government platform, the manager is then liable to prosecution.