Fuel, the obligation of gas stations to display the average price has been confirmed February 06, 2023 27

Government he’s getting ready modify a much-discussed and contested fuel transparency decree that also led to a much-discussed gas station strike. According to Il Sole 24 Ore, the government drafted an amendment which is considered in the first reading by the committee of the Chamber on industrial activity.

CONTENT OF THE AMENDMENT

So, what is the main content of the amendment? First of all, distributors remain obligated to display the average fuel price. In particular, the average price will be calculated by region for filling stations on the normal road network and by country for filling stations on highways. Price messages from Mimit managers must be made”change the price charged and in any case weekly“.

Willingness to stay confirmed create a specific new application this allows people to be able to check the average prices and rates charged. A project that generated a lot of controversy, given that applications that indicate fuel prices There are a few for quite some time. The new app will receive €500,000 in 2023 for development and implementation and €100,000 from 2024 for technical support.

The amendment then proceeds to change the sanctions in case the petrol stations do not comply with the new provisions. For those who violate the obligation to report and display fuel prices, fines are provided in the amount of 200 euros to 2 thousand euros, depending on the turnover. Previously, they were 500 euros – 6000 euros. According to reports, the suspension of activities from 1 to 30 days (previously from 7 to 90 days) will take effect after 4 violations (previously 3), even non-consecutive, within 60 days. Checking violations is still the responsibility of the Guardia di Finanza.

Also new for Price supervision guarantor (“Mr. Price”), who will produce a quarterly report on the dynamics of average prices, which specifically examines changes in the price chain. The report will then be published on the Mimit Price and Tariff Observatory website. The Government allocated 500,000 euros for the new tasks of the Guarantor for price supervision for each of the years from 2023 to 2025.

FIRST REACTIONS

After the content of the amendment became known, first reactions. Refusal, for example,National Consumer Union whose president Maximilian Dona a comment:

Bullying the Italians! For this reason, we have asked the Chamber’s Operations Committee not to legislate a decree that leads to a deterioration of existing legislation. With

Against 200-800 euros announced by Minister Urso, l

The increase in the maximum fine is ridiculous, given that for many years the law provided for fines from 516 to 3098 euros and that Decree no. 5, published in the “Herald”, brought amounts of 500 and 6,000 euros, respectively. In short, in reality, the maximum fine has been reduced by a third, from 6,000 to 2,000 euros. Considering that in 2022, out of 5,187 Gdf inspections, there were 2,809 violations, 54.2%, while in January 2023 alone, despite the fact that gas stations were in the spotlight, out of 2,518 interventions, 989 were challenged, 39 .3%, even a child understands that fines should increase and certainly not decrease.

Negative decision also from codacons:

The amendment is a hole in the water and will not do any good in terms of lowering petrol and diesel prices at the gas station.

The fines for the wrong filling stations are still small and cannot guarantee sufficient transparency for consumers. Then the change whereby managers must report prices to Mimit, “because the price charged changes and in any case on a weekly basis, is not clear. An obvious step back compared to the current situation, which, of course, is not aimed at ensuring greater transparency of price lists, but more like a gift from a gas station.

Author: Filippo Vendrame SOURCE

Source: HD Motori

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