The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says it expects retailers to pass on the savings from the Government’s reduction in fuel excise to consumers at the bowser.
Chair of the ACCC, Gina Cass-Gottlieb said this should be done as soon as possible, as existing petrol stock levels were used up.
“Our petrol team will focus on this price monitoring work for the next six months to determine how retailers are passing through the excise reduction to consumers,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.
“We will contact petrol retailers to set out our clear expectations that the savings are passed on to consumers and advise them that we will be monitoring their margins,” she said.
“We will also continue to inform consumers of retailer behaviour.”
Ms Cass-Gottlieb said the ACCC accepted that the full excise had already been paid on existing stocks of fuel which would be run down first.
“This lag in the adjustment of wholesale prices is shorter in larger cities and sites with large turnover, but is often longer in regional locations where lower volumes of fuel are sold and fuel is replenished less frequently,” she said.
“If retailers make false or misleading statements to consumers that they have passed on the savings when they have not, the ACCC will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action.”
Ms Cass-Gottlieb encouraged consumers in major capitals to also look at the price cycle information on the ACCC’s website and urged consumers everywhere to use price comparison sites.
