Steven N.
With the price of 95-octane gasoline and regular diesel set to be fixed at a maximum of 480 Ft. (US $1.50) on Monday for three months, details have been announced for gas stations that fail to comply with the new regulations.
According to the Official Gazette, “gasoline stations have to remain open, and cannot close on their own. But they will be required to close if they do not sell their designated fuel for a period longer than two days.”
The gazette also states, “the operator of the filling station is obliged to announce a shutdown if it is unable to serve consumers its products according to the Price Regulation within a period of 7 days during its normal operating hours, for a total of 48 hours. The operator of the service station may not declare a shutdown for any other reason.”
In addition, no other commercial activities may be carried out at the filling station during this downtime, nor may it be open for a shorter period than usual.
Stations that do not comply with the regulations can expect sanctions. A fine anywhere between 100,000 Ft to 3 million Ft., (US $312 – $9,356) can be levied with no possibility of appeal, and repeat offenders may be barred from operating their service stations for up to half a year.
If a gas operators are banned from running their filling stations, a registered service provider within a 30km radius will be designated to “meet the needs of residents.” In this case, both the building and tangible assets of the gas station will be transferred to the newly-designated service provider, who will also be permitted to sell the products offered at the station it has assumed.
[Telex]
