Status: 05/29/2022 5:23 p.m
Shortly before the start of the tank discount, more and more fears are being voiced that the relief will not be passed on to consumers enough. The Federal Cartel Office has announced that it intends to keep a close eye on price developments.
The President of the Bundeskartellamt, Andreas Mundt, has announced that his authority will closely monitor price developments after the start of the tank discount. His authority is looking “intensely at June 1st,” he told the broadcasters RTL and ntv. If price reductions are not passed on to consumers, the Cartel Office will ask the mineral oil companies “uncomfortable questions”.
“Maximum transparency”
According to Mundt, the Federal Cartel Office began monitoring prices more closely some time ago. “In the end, we have to hope that the price reductions will not only be temporary, but will have a permanent impact on consumers,” he said. It is possible “to create a maximum of transparency for the public and politicians as to how this tax cut is being handled by the oil companies.” “We will ask the relevant questions and we will also get the answers.”
For the tank discount, the energy tax on fuel will be reduced for three months from June. According to the Federal Ministry of Finance, this should make petrol 35.2 cents cheaper and diesel 16.7 cents. However, there are fears that the oil companies may not lower prices to the same extent.
Forwarders warn of supply bottlenecks despite the tank discount
Despite the planned tank discount, the forwarders in Germany warned of mass bankruptcies in the industry and supply bottlenecks. “It would be a disaster if the tank discount fizzled out. Then there would be a mass extinction in our industry, which would seriously endanger the supply in Germany,” said the general manager of the Federal Association of Goods Transport and Logistics (BGL), Dirk Engelhardt, the “Bild am Sonntag”. . He urged the federal government to provide more relief.
The transport policy spokesman for the Union in the German Bundestag, Thomas Bareiß (CDU), also warned: “There is a great danger that the long-overdue tax relief will not reach the driver.”
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck did not rule out on Friday that the tank discount could initially lead to higher fuel prices – “if everyone drives to the gas station on June 1st,” as he said. Then the demand would be much greater “and the petrol will suddenly become an even more valuable commodity and then we lowered the price, but in reality it is going up,” he told RTL / ntv. That is then due to what is happening on the market and would “calm down again”.