The Lungauers pay more for gasoline and diesel – and that’s how it will stay. This stems from the result of the Authority Competition, which was presented on Friday morning. The authority had determined whether there were cartel formation or price agreements. The local leaders speak of partial success.
The competition authority has investigated whether the increasingly expensive gas stations in Lungau can justify their prices on average. The residents of the smallest district have been paying more than Salzburg for several years. If the fuel in Flachgau costs around 1.50 euros, you often pay 1.70 euros in the Lungau.
It will also stay that way! Because: no price agreements were found. The competition authority was also unable to demonstrate relevant facts. The expensive fuel price is justified by a smorgas board of toll costs, transport costs and higher fixed costs. No significantly higher margins were found in the profit of the operators of the gas station. For the Lungauer this means that the fuel remains more expensive.
Mixed feelings with mayors
Nevertheless, it is a partial success for the local leaders of the 15 municipalities: you now know that you actually pay more than the rest of the country. And now you have a means to force the gas stations for transparency.
This tool is the STD -driven registration of fuel prices in the price transparent database. The submissions would have done the submissions more often. This leads to more transparency and especially to lower prices.
Companies threaten high penalties
“We see this as a success and will remain that the operators of the gas station register their prizes,” says Manfred Sampl, spokesperson for the mayor and chairman of the Regional Association. He promises citizens that the municipalities are carrying out market observation and that this task is not being deported to citizens.
If a company does not announce, there is a risk of high fines. 2200 euros in the first case, 7200 euros in the repeated case. Various administrative criminal procedures of the district administration – the companies that are not registered are currently ongoing high fines, because any input that was not done in the database can be punished.
By the way: only the introduction of fuel prices has the difference in the diesel prices of partly 30 cents per liter to an average of four cents per liter. It is still high for gasoline engines – but the high price is justified by the low sales market in Lungau: only 25 percent of customers buy petrol, three -quarters in Lungau Drive diesel. Since the fixed costs of the entrepreneurs are equally high, the price must be justified.
The starting point was that the Lungau citizens had complained to their local leaders for years that they had to pay around 2 euros per liter for gasoline, while in the rest of the country the price was even 30 cents cheaper from 10 to 20.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
