Fuel prices fluctuate too quickly at German gas stations, as a comparison portal shows. Cheap prices are often only offered for a few minutes before they are raised again. Customers would “become behind him”, it is difficult for consumers to orientate, the cartel agency criticizes.
Fuel prices at German gas stations are fluctuating quickly. Too fast, says the Petrolpreis comparison portal. The industry accuses only a few minutes to offer prizes for a few minutes and therefore to lead “consumers behind light”. The Kartelkantoor also criticizes that fast fluctuations make consumers difficult to orientate. The association of fuels and energy rejects the criticism.
Comparison portal increases the alarm
The basis of the current accusations is an evaluation of Petrolitreis.de. The Portal evaluated the price data of the good 14,000 petrol stations in Germany from 12 to 18 May, which they must report to the market transparency at the federal cartel agency.
Fuel prices often not even valid for 5 minutes
According to its own statements, the portal noted that more than 11,000 gas stations reported prizes during this period, some of which were valid for less than 15 minutes. With 3851 gas stations, the portal even registered individual prices that were less than five minutes.
Customers are lured to the gas station
Petrelpreis.de sees this as a “misleading customers”. In this way they would be lured to the gas station without the chance to maintain the specified low price. The Portal therefore evokes that the associations of consumer protection are called to demonstrate operators of gas stations.
Allegations for companies unfounded
The fuels and energy Economic Association, which, among other things, represents the large mineral oil companies, rejected the allegations as completely unfounded. The market transparency “ensures full transparency of gasoline and diesel prices on the German market”. That’s good for customers. “Because in a very competitive environment the gas stations compete for every driver for the price, which leads to the strong price fluctuations.”
The German federal cartel agency, however, also sees the rapidly fluctuating fuel prices critically. The authority had already devoted itself to the subject in April after an average of 22 price changes per day at the German gas stations in the first quarter. 8 percent changed their prices more than 35 times, individuals even more than 50 times a day on average on average from the entire first quarter.
Deutsches Kartellamt looks at Austria
The authority further encourages the effects of frequent price changes at gas stations. Building on this, sufficient regulatory steps can be considered. However, these would be upset by the legislative power. In the past, the cartel agency has pointed out, among other things, rules, as applies in Austria, for example where the number of price changes is limited to different ways.
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.
