Victorian Petrol Pumps Protected With New Anti-Price Gouging Laws
There’s good news and there’s bad news: petrol prices are set to skyrocket, but you won’t be ripped off when you need to fill up.
The Victorian state government has announced new anti-price gouging laws requiring retailers to set a daily cap on fuel prices and publish that price in advance. That means if you check the price of petrol tonight at your local service station, it won’t have jumped by the time you get there tomorrow.
These new laws are designed to protect Victorians from paying more than necessary, and will allow them to shop around for the best deal. Here’s a breakdown on how the new pricing process works:
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Retailers must set their price by 2pm for the following day.
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This capped price is published on Servo Saver at 4pm, and will apply for 24 hours from 6am the following day.
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Retailers are allowed to reduce the price during this 24-hour period, but they cannot increase it.
Retailers who fail to adhere to these new laws can face fines of over $3,000 for each breach, or up to $24,000 if the matter advances to court.
Right now, it’s unknown how long these increasing fuel prices will continue for. Global oil prices have been rising since tensions between Israel, the US and Iran became a war in the Middle East on 28 February, with the Australian Institute of Petroleum reporting a 17-cent average increase in fuel prices in the past week alone.
For those of us looking for (as close to) a bargain as possible, access Servo Saver via the Service Victoria app to find the best-priced fuel near you. Petrol Spy is another great user-backed resource for checking the different prices. At the time of writing, their current roundup shows that for this coming weekend, these are some of the most budget-effective servos for Unleaded 91:
- United South Melbourne: 219.9 cents/litre
- 7-Eleven Royal Melbourne: 218.9 cents/litre
- Reddy Express Carlton: 218.9 cents/litre
- U-GO Chadstone: 215.9 cents/litre
- Reddy Express Gardenvale: 218.9 cents/litre
- Liberty Altona: 218.9 cents/litre
Happy hunting, Melburnians.
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