Pump holders are counting on sudden price increases and large crowds

At the end of this month, people with a fuel car will have the last chance to refuel at the current rates before the excise duty goes up again on 1 July. Pump holders therefore expect large crowds in the last days of June. According to Belangenvereniging Tankstations (BETA), they ensure that the fuel pumps are ‘packed and packed’ to handle the bargain hunters.

BETA chairman Ewout Klok, who is also a filling station owner, expects that the increase in excise duty on July 1 will lead to considerably higher prices. He does not think that, as market expert Paul van Selms of UnitedConsumers previously estimated, filling station owners were gradually increasing their prices before then. “As a consumer you would then feel cheated,” says Klok. “It’s very smart from a commercial point of view, but the mutual competition doesn’t give room for that.”

Refueling abroad

It will probably pay off for many people to refuel abroad from 1 July. Klok also fears that the increase in excise duty will cost Dutch filling station owners many customers. “Especially in the border area, entrepreneurs are having a hard time. Now we were lucky that we were at about the same price level as Belgium and Germany. But now we are pricing ourselves completely out of the market again. It’s idiotic that the excise duty differs so much between countries.” Klok thinks that the more expensive fuel will also lead to price increases in the supermarket. “Transporting bread and cheese also costs more. We are a transport country”.