Over 10000 motorists have joined ADNOC Distribution's smart self - refueling programme that kick started last month.

However 3000 petrol consumers have activated their smart cards as of now that will allow them to refuel their automobiles from March 1.

The pilot phase of smart self-refueling service was inaugurated by Suhail Al Mazruie minister of energy in the presence of Dr Sultan Al Jaber director general of Adnoc and Abdulla Salem Al Dhaheri chief executive officer of Adnoc Distribution besides senior management of the oil sector.

The service was rolled out at Rabdan service station Al Nasr service station Al Qanah service station and Al Zafarana service station in Abu Dhabi the chief executive officer said.

Towards the year end another 140 of total 380 petrol pumps in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi will be offering the service which the Adnoc Distribution CEO said would change consumers behaviour.

The pilot project will run until October 1.

He invited his customers to experience and benefit from the complete range of ADNOC SMART services.

Al Dhaheri asked them to register for the ADNOC Wallet account which allows customers to pay for their purchases in three different ways - via the Smart Tag a smart chip installed at the fuel inlet of the vehicles' fuel tank and linked to the ADNOC Wallet account the ADNOC Plus cards or via their ID cards that are also linked to the ADNOC Wallet and activated for payments.

The Smart tag will cost Dh250 while Adnoc Plus cards will be issued for Dh50 with no renewal fee.

The new service marks an important milestone in enhancing the operational capacity and efficiency of the ADNOC Distribution network the Adnoc Distribution chief executive said.

Adnoc will closely monitor and evaluate the pilot phase of ADNOC SMART and the customer's actual experience throughout the eight-month period.

"Based on the outcomes we hope to expand the service - after carrying out improvements as needed - across our network of service stations in the emirate of Abu Dhabi" the CEO said.

ADNOC Distribution is incentivizing customers to subscribe to the ADNOC Wallet through offering complimentary Smart Tags to the first 5000 customers opting to experience the service.

The company is also issuing ADNOC Plus cardsforfree to the first 5000 customers. In addition customers registering for the ADNOC Wallet can have their ID cards linked to their ADNOC Wallet accounts and activated for free.

The oil distribution company will continue to offer the option of paying in cash bank credit and debit cards in the pilot phase.