Drivers who want to have the fuel in their cars filled by an attendant will be charged at ADNOC stations from Saturday.

ADNOC Distribution has revealed that it will start charging customers a fee of 10 United Arab Emirates dirhams ($2.72) from Saturday, June 30, if they want to have the fuel in their cars filled by an attendant, instead of doing it manually themselves.

The company said in a press release issued on Tuesday that elderly and disabled customers will be exempt from paying the charge. However, other customers looking to avoid the charge will now have to fill their own vehicles.

It said that customers who use the premium service will benefit from vouchers that can be redeemed against coffee, snacks, car washes and other services.

ADNOC Distribution's plan to introduce the charge was revealed in the company's IPO prospectus published ahead of its listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in December last year. It sold a 10 percent stake, raising 3.1 billion dirhams in the process.

The company, which has a 67 percent market share of the fuel retail market in the United Arab Emirates (it owns all of the fuel stations in the emirates of Abu Dhabi and Sharjah), had indicated to potential investors in its offer that it expects that between 40-50 percent of customers to use the premium service. It also revealed plans to expand into Dubai and Saudi Arabia. The company subsequently secured an operating licence for Saudi Arabia in April.

The firm has also introduced a Smart Tag service with a radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip fitted to cars that can automatically debit the premium fee - and the price of any fuel used.

In Tuesday’s press release, ADNOC Distribution's acting CEO, Saeed Mubarak Al Rashdi, 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."

In May, the company announced a 12 percent increase in year-on-year increase in net profit for the three months to March 31 of 542.2 million dirhams. Revenue increased by a similar amount to 5.2 billion dirhams.

(Writing by Michael Fahy; Editing by Shane McGinley)

(michael.fahy@thomsonreuters.com)

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