Fuel sales: fair price campaign will inspect service stations

The change in Petrobras' pricing policy has generated controversy and debates across the country, and now the federal government has announced the carrying out of a “fair price campaign” to inspect service stations and identify possible abusive practices in the sale of fuel.

The government created a committee to keep a permanent eye on the transfer of prices to the final consumer. In addition, on May 24, a national inspection action will be carried out, called the “fair price campaign”. The objective is to verify if the reduction determined by Petrobras in relation to the distributors is being passed on to the consumer. The task force will count on the participation of states, municipalities and civil society entities.

The Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, stated that the fuel price it is a strategic theme for families and for the Brazilian economy. According to him, “we know that there is no price regulation. We have the subjection of price to a relative fluctuation due to free market rules. However, free market, in Brazil and in all countries of the world, is regulated”.

Petrobras' new pricing policy

In an announcement made in May, the Petrobras announced a change in its pricing strategy, eliminating the so-called fuel import parity policy, which aligned prices with the oil market and the exchange rate.

A Petrobras' new policy can reduce the volatility of fuel prices. The drop in oil prices on the international market exposed a problem from the previous Petrobras parity system: when oil rose, prices also rose in Brazil, even if there was no increase in production costs in the country.

The new pricing system, according to Petrobras, is more streamlined and functional, and takes into account changes in the international oil market, respecting competition with importing refineries and domestic market conditions.

The follow-up committee

The policy monitoring committee fuel prices It is made up of the National Consumer Secretariat, Cade and the ANP. The meeting held between Senacon and 225 representatives of the National Consumer Protection System - Procons, Public Ministries, Defenders and civil society entities, in addition to the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) and the National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency ( ANP), defined the formation of this consumer protection network.

The objective of the constant monitoring committee is to ensure that Petrobras' price reductions are passed on to distributors in relation to consumers and to combat possible abusive and harmful practices.