The Association of Consumers, Facua, has demanded that the authorities name the petrol stations implicated in the police operation which has uncovered an alleged fraud in diesel sales.
A spokesperson for Facua has asked for “transparency” due to “a shadow of suspicion which hangs over the petrol stations in Spain.”
The move follows an massive police operation which has uncovered a network of petrol stations allegedly selling agricultural or heating fuel as diesel after “doctoring” it to change the colour and adding cheap grease products.
Facua says due to this national operation “consumers now suspect all the usual petrol stations because the names of the alleged culprits had not been made public. Moreover, a consumer who has been a victim of the fraud have a vehicle in danger of breaking down.”
The President of the Association of Service Station in the Murcia region, Francisco Pellicer, has attacked the “low cost” petrol stations which have sprung over the past few years.
“They sell to the consumer at 10 cents cheaper a litre and we ask ourselves how they can make a profit.”
He is concerned about the repercussions of the scam on the sector and says that all members of the Association “pass all the controls in the world.”
Further he alleges that the “low cost” petrol stations operate “outside these controls.”
Pellicer explains that the diesel fraud is basically a “tax fraud” because the type B and C, which are being passed of as type A, are for agriculture and heating and carry much lower taxes. “The difference is almost double,” he says.
The President of the Confederation of Service Station Businesses, (Ceees), Javier Bru, has welcomed the operation by the Guardia Civil and Customs against an organised criminal ring dedicated to “adulterating diesel, in many cases with the knowledge of the petrol suppliers.”
“We are the first to be interested when those within the sector do not apply the rules., he added.
