Gaspy App Sees Surge in Users Amid Fuel Price Concerns & Misinformation

Fuel Price App Gaspy Battles Misinformation as User Base Surges

Thousands of New Zealanders are turning to the fuel price comparison app Gaspy as petrol prices climb, but the surge in popularity has brought with it a wave of inaccurate reporting, including false claims of fuel shortages. The app’s director, Mike Newton, says the company is working to combat the misinformation while grappling with unprecedented user growth.

Gaspy, which allows users to report and compare petrol prices across stations, has seen daily new user sign-ups jump from a typical 700 to between 6,000 and 10,000 in recent weeks. Active daily users have more than tripled, rising from a normal range of 50,000 to 100,000 to over 200,000, and peaking above 300,000 on some days. This dramatic increase is directly linked to rising fuel costs and anxieties about supply, fueled in part by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The influx of new users has presented challenges. Newton explained that many are unfamiliar with the app’s functionality, leading to incorrectly entered prices. More concerningly, some users are deliberately submitting false information, such as reporting petrol prices of $4 a litre, seemingly as a way to signal that a station has run out of fuel when the app lacked a dedicated shortage reporting feature.

In response, Gaspy implemented a temporary solution on Sunday, allowing users to directly message the company about shortages for verification. The company is now focused on developing a more robust, long-term system for handling shortage reports. “We’d like to put in a much more robust system for handling reporting of shortages, but that’s going to require some dev [development] work,” Newton said.

Beyond the shortage reporting system, Gaspy is exploring the use of artificial intelligence to improve data accuracy. The potential AI measures would flag suspicious price entries – for example, diesel priced higher than 91 octane – for review. Newton also revealed that the app has restricted price updates to users physically located near the petrol station, making it more difficult for malicious actors to submit false information. “We’ve actually clamped that right down so you have to be next to the station to update prices at the moment… if there were some bad actors out there – and we don’t believe that there are a significant number, they would actually have to drive to a station to be a nuisance.”

Despite the issues, Newton emphasized that false reporting isn’t a “massive problem” and is being addressed quickly due to the high volume of active users who are contributing accurate data. He noted that the current situation is unprecedented in the app’s 11-year history, as widespread fuel shortages are a new phenomenon.

Newton urged users to continue utilizing the app to report prices and shortages, anticipating that high fuel prices and potential supply disruptions will persist for the foreseeable future. The app’s continued relevance hinges on maintaining user trust and data integrity in a climate of increasing economic uncertainty.