Petrol price-gouging alert: Watchdog boss slams major chains including Coles Express and 7-Eleven for ‘playing with fire’ for charging much more than other companies
- ACCC chairman Rod Sims said petrol retailers need to change their high prices
- Mr Sims singled out Coles Express and 7-Eleven as some of the worst offenders
- There is an 80 cent difference between the cheapest and most expensive fuel
Major petrol chains including Coles Express and 7-Eleven have been slammed by Australia’s watchdog boss for charging exorbitant prices during a pandemic.
While many chains have dropped their prices to match low oil prices Rod Sims from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission singled out the duo for continuing to price-gouge customers.
Mr Sims told the Daily Telegraph that prices set by major chains had led to an unprecedented 80 cent difference between the cheapest and most expensive fuel.
ACCC chairman Rod Sims slammed petrol companies including Coles Express and 7-Eleven for charging high prices
He said petrol companies were ‘playing with fire’ by charging high prices during a time of crisis.
Mr Sims warned the government would introduce ‘price controls’ if companies did not change their ways.
‘They should consider how the government might respond in the extreme,’ Mr Sims said.
‘You can’t keep behaving as badly as this and not expect consequences.’
Mr Sims said the prices set by Coles and 7-Eleven had led to an unprecedented 80 cent difference between the cheapest and most expensive fuel
A spokesperson from Coles said its prices were under the control of Viva Energy.
Last week Peter Khoury from the NRMA slammed petrol companies for charging high prices while many Australians were struggling financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘It just keeps going up, a third of the service stations in Sydney alone are above $1.60 which is ridiculous pricing,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘They need to drop the prices immediately, don’t lean on this nonsense about the price cycle because we are facing challenges in this country that we haven’t seen in generations.’
The average cost price of petrol showed that some companies are recording up to a 60 cent profit for every litre of fuel
The high prices at a time had led to companies ranking in as much as 60 cents of profit per litre of petrol in a move that is largely unprecedented.
‘If you want to continue trading in Australia I’m not sure you want to be setting record profits at a time when the country is clearly suffering.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Viva Energy and 7-Eleven for comment.