E-Control decides

Shocking news: OMV must pass on price cap!

No exemption from the fuel price cap for OMV(Bild: Mario Urbantschitsch)

Gas station operator OMV will not be able to avoid the fuel price cap after all. E-Control has reviewed the matter and made it clear: The full five cents from the margin reduction must be passed on. Previously, the oil company had written in a letter that it intended to pass on only a portion of the savings.

The government intended to curb inflation with the fuel price cap; fuel was supposed to become cheaper by a total of ten cents thanks to tax cuts and a cap on profit margins. But the partially state-owned OMV, of all companies, refused to play along, unilaterally reduced the savings, and informed its partners in a letter that it would pass on only 2.8 cents. The company justified this by citing insufficient profit margins.

No Exception to the Fuel Price Cap for OMV(Bild: Mario Urbantschitsch)

Five cents must be passed on
In response, the regulatory authority E-Control stepped in and conducted an investigation. The results are now in and have been provided to the “Krone.” “One thing is clear: The full five cents from the margin reduction must be passed on—E-Control has made that clear,” says Minister of Economic Affairs Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer. The question of how to interpret the regulation has thus been resolved.

What was the situation in practice recently? According to E-Control’s review, OMV had already passed on the full five cents anyway, in some cases not even charging its customers for it, and was waiting for the outcome. Now this is exactly what is clear: OMV has no way around it. 

OMV: “Always fully implemented”
Retailers have already been informed in a letter. OMV itself also emphasizes in a statement that it has been “fully implementing the prescribed measures” since the regulation came into effect. The clarity now established enables a “consistent implementation of the measures” from this point forward.

E-Control also believes that consumers have not suffered any harm, as the lower margin cap was effectively never applied—it was likely just “a storm in a teacup.”