Thousands of petrol stations in Germany breached a new rule allowing fuel price increases only once a day at noon, according to an analysis by consumer service Mehr-Tanken based on official fuel pricing data.
The review found that 2,995 out of 15,240 petrol stations raised fuel prices around 17,000 times outside the permitted time window between April 1 and May 11, according to data from Germany's Market Transparency Unit for Fuels.
That amounted to roughly 19.7% of stations, or nearly one in five. The highest share of apparent violations was recorded in Bavaria at 25.6%, while Berlin had the lowest rate at 8.2%.
The period between 11:30 am (0930 GMT) and 12:30 pm was excluded from the analysis to avoid distortions caused by delayed or premature price reporting, Mehr-Tanken said.
The so-called "12 o'clock rule," introduced on April 1, allows petrol stations to raise fuel prices only once per day at noon, while price reductions remain unrestricted. The measure was introduced after the Iran war triggered sharp rises in fuel prices and was intended to give consumers more predictability.
Petrol station operators rejected accusations of deliberate breaches.
"Our initial indications are that we are dealing with the consequences of a poorly designed law, not intentional violations," Daniel Kaddik, head of the Federal Association of Independent Fuel Stations, was quoted as saying by newspapers Sächsische Zeitung and Leipziger Volkszeitung.
Price changes pass through checkout systems and then have to be processed by payment terminals, price boards and fuel pumps before the data is transmitted to the cartel office, Kaddik said. Slow connections or ongoing refuelling operations could delay the reporting of price changes.
