Hidden Trick Exposed: Petrol Companies Bypass New Price Limits
Fuel prices in Germany remain under pressure despite a new Preisbremse (price cap) set to reduce costs, with evidence suggesting petrol stations are bypassing the rules and limiting savings for drivers.
The new regulation, effective from May 1, aims to cut taxes on petrol and diesel by around 17 cents per liter until the end of June. The measure was introduced to ease the burden on motorists following sharp price increases since the start of the Iran conflict in late February.
However, data analysis indicates that many fuel retailers are not passing on the full savings. Under the so-called Österreich-Regel (Austria rule), price increases are only allowed once per day at 12 noon. Despite this, investigations have uncovered widespread violations of the rule.
According to research by SWR, around 60,000 suspected illegal price increases were recorded in the first three weeks of April. These violations occurred across approximately 3,800 petrol stations, meaning nearly one in four stations broke the rules at least once.
Additional analysis from the Benzin.jetzt app supports these findings. Out of 11,659 recorded price increases at 434 stations, a large portion occurred outside the permitted time window. Many increases happened shortly after noon, raising questions about whether they were due to system delays or deliberate manipulation.
More concerning is the so-called “Frühstarter-Effekt” (early starter effect), where stations raise prices before the allowed time. Experts consider this practice clearly illegal, with at least 19 confirmed cases identified. This suggests a systematic issue rather than isolated incidents.
Despite these tactics, the main reason for high fuel prices remains taxation. Up to 70 percent of the final price consists of taxes, including Energiesteuer (energy tax), CO2-Steuer (carbon tax), THG-Quote (greenhouse gas reduction quota), and Mehrwertsteuer (VAT).
Experts warn that even after the price cap ends, fuel costs are unlikely to drop significantly unless global oil prices fall. Increasing climate-related taxes are expected to keep petrol and diesel prices high in the long term, regardless of short-term relief measures.