The antitrust authority sees a need for further clarification on the fuel discount.

The Federal Cartel Office, based on preliminary assessments, assumes that the state relief through the tank discount has not fully reached consumers. As Andreas Mundt, president of the agency, explained in Bonn, the existing data indicate that the tax reduction was not passed on to end customers at every point in time and not in full. However, a final evaluation is still pending.

Position of the Mineral Oil Industry

The industry association Fuels and Energy rejects this assessment. According to the association, member companies had reduced prices by around 17 euro cents per liter with the introduction of the tank discount. With the return to the regular energy tax rate on July 1, this effect will reverse accordingly.

Additionally, the association points to the development of international fuel markets. Accordingly, the price increases are mainly due to the global rise in crude oil prices as a result of the Middle East crisis. The association rejects excessive prices charged by the oil companies.

Further criticism of the pass-through

The Federal Cartel Office nevertheless sticks to its preliminary assessment. According to the authority, the fuel discount was in principle passed on to consumers, but not completely. Whether the pass-through has developed differently for gasoline and diesel is still being evaluated.

Earlier, the Ifo Institute and the Monopolies Commission had already expressed doubts about a complete pass-through of the tax relief. According to calculations by the Ifo Institute, with diesel a tax relief of 16.7 cents resulted in only twelve cents reaching end consumers.

Procedures against refinery operators

According to the Federal Cartel Office, procedures are now underway against the owners of all German refineries. The basis for this are new statutory powers under which companies must disclose their cost structures and demonstrate the appropriateness of their prices. Twelve companies are affected.