This is how foreigners abuse fuel purchase rules in Hungary!
People around the Hungarian border are fearing a surge in official gas prices. Some arrive at the petrol stations with minibuses full of jerry cans. Others are putting Hungarian licence plates on their foreign cars. Continue reading to find out why people are trying to cheat the system while fearing high gas prices.
The price difference between the market and the official price of diesel is now 331 HUF (0.83 EUR).
Consumer gas is currently 811 HUF (2.03 EUR) – compared to the official price of 480 HUF (1.20 EUR). Hence, in the case of a 40-litre tank, the difference is more than 12,000 HUF (30 EUR). That is quite a significant amount, and the difference between the official price and the market price will only expand in the future. This is because the market price will continue to rise, reports 24.hu.
- Read More: Fuel shortage to hit Hungary in two weeks?
Hungarians scamming at gas stations
“A Hungarian driver lent his licence plates and registration number to foreigners for 4,000 HUF (10 EUR) for the duration of the refuelling. He earns 40,000 HUF (100 EUR) a day,” revealed Gábor Egri to the source above. As president of the Independent Petrol Station Association, Egri learned about this scheme from a petrol station attendant.
Egri believes that petrol stations are unable to manage the dual pricing of gas. He is convinced that market prices should prevail and that social support should be given to those who need it.
Eszter Bujdos, managing director of Holtankoljak.hu, caught wind of a similar scheme. This event took place near the Austrian border. There, two cars, one with Austrian and one with Hungarian plates, pulled up to the gas station. The Austrian car had its licence plates removed and replaced with the Hungarian car’s plates. If the attendant was not looking, they would have never noticed the fraud. They confronted the perpetrators, warning them that they would call the police.
The attendant got the following half-hearted response: “Sorry, we thought we could get away with it.”
Bujdos said that, according to the station attendants, the new changes and regulations still cause a lot of anger and frustration among customers, which are all being directed at the staff. The increasing number of daily conflicts makes the work of cashiers and clerks very stressful. If there are no staff, the machines take the brunt of the anger.
Is the fear of high gas prices justified?
Bujdos has also said that the traffic is picking up as the end of the month approaches. People fill up as much as they can because they fear that the official price might be phased out from 1 July. However, this fear is unjustified.
The government extends the deadline for the petrol price cap until 1 October, reports Portfolio.
Source: 24.hu, portfolio.hu