1800 petrol stations inspected for fuel price compliance

THE NSW Government has inspected just under 1800 petrol stations for fuel price compliance, issuing 93 penalty infringement notices.

Over the last fortnight, the government fast-tracked a statewide fuel price compliance blitz to “strengthen fuel price transparency and protect motorists from misleading pricing”.

Around 75 percent of stations in NSW were inspected by the beginning of April, with around half located outside Sydney.

Retailers who break the rules face on-the-spot fines of $1,100, or Court penalties of up to $22,000 for individuals and $110,000 for corporations.

NSW Fair Trading will continue to update its targets for inspection based on “consumer complaints, intelligence and the changing conditions in the marketplace”.

“The Government has developed a robust inspection forward plan and expects to physically inspect the majority of NSW’s service stations in the coming weeks,” the NSW Government said in a statement.

“As the program progresses, regional areas will remain a key target.”

To ensure businesses are properly passing on the cost savings promised by the Federal Government’s fuel excise reduction, consumers are urged to report fuel price issues via FuelCheck – a government site and app which provides real-time information about fuel prices at service stations across NSW and the ACT – or the NSW Fair Trading website.

This includes mismatches between bowser prices and FuelCheck listings, as well as suspected price exploitation following the fuel excise cuts.

Consumer reports are supporting compliance activity, with NSW Fair Trading issuing 24 user intelligence-based fines last week.

On Sunday, the NSW Government announced a $2.2 million investment to upgrade FuelCheck.

Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading Anoulack Chanthivong said, “Over the past two weeks, millions of NSW motorists have turned to FuelCheck to help find the best fuel price and navigate fuel supply gaps.

“This funding will allow us to make FuelCheck better for the hundreds of thousands of people who use it daily – through better data collection, stronger analysis, and streamlined user experience.

“These are uncertain times, but we want the people of New South Wales to have the utmost confidence in the real-time price transparency data provided by FuelCheck.”