Qatar Fuel (Woqod) will be offering “major discounts” on the installation fees for its automated fuelling and payment scheme, Woqodi, to attract more customers, Woqod CEO Ibrahim Jaham al-Kuwari has said.
Speaking to reporters  at the Woqod headquarters in West Bay recently, al-Kuwari said:  “Our main project now is the RFID (radio frequency identification) fuelling automation system or Woqodi. We will implement a new pricing scheme to make it attractive to customers; I think lots of customers will go for it because of the new prices that we are going to announce soon.
“We will offer major discounts to encourage people to use the system, which will spare them from the hassles of using the conventional cash-to-fuel scheme every time. The payment method will be like a telephone bill where the customer is notified at the end of the month,” explained al-Kuwari, who was quick to clarify that the discount only applied to the installation fees and not on fuel prices.
He added: “Installation of the device is only ‘a one-time cost’ and the administration fee is very minimal, but the installation cost and the tag itself will have a major discount when you buy the system.”
Early this year, the fuel company introduced Woqodi, an electronic payment and fuelling system, which will be implemented in three phases.
The first phase will cover 60,000 vehicles, which includes company-owned and individual cars that have been registered previously with Woqod. The second phase will cover new companies, while the last phase will accommodate private car owners.
“So far, we have about 6,000 company cars that have been installed with the Woqodi system. We are already moving towards individual cars and we’re making sure that the system is working properly,” al-Kuwari said.
Under the Woqodi system, a chip will be installed on the right side of the vehicle’s fuel tank and will be activated once the nozzle of the fuel pump comes in contact with the opening of the fuel tank. The device, indicated by a flashing green light, will continue to remain active until the nozzle is removed from the fuel tank.
According to al-Kuwari, the smart fuelling and payment system lessens the hassle of paying in cash. All payment details such as the location of the petrol station, amount of fuel, date and time will be printed on a receipt and the customer will be notified via SMS of the transaction details.
On fuel prices, al-Kuwari clarified that pricing is determined at the government level.
“Woqod has nothing to do with fuel prices, which are determined by the Ministry of Energy and Industry. We only implement prices that come from the government and we do not dictate them. Woqod has nothing to do with it. Whatever they tell us, we make sure that it is implemented,” al-Kuwari stressed.