Rome: 26 thousand liters of irregular fuel seized and price sanctions

The Financiers of the Provincial Command of Rome, in collaboration with the officials of the Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) - Anti-fraud Office and Chemical Laboratory, have completed a further and extensive plan of interventions in the road distribution sector of automotive fuels in the capital and in the province, aimed at combating tax fraud, ensuring price transparency and protecting consumer safety through the execution of 68 checks.

In the first line of intervention, focused on combating fraud on the quality and quantity of energy products, targeted checks were carried out on the plants in the capital, in Civitavecchia and in Frascati through the use of the mobile chemical laboratory of the Customs and Monopolies Agency. This allowed chemical analyzes to be carried out in real time. The laboratory analyzes carried out on the diesel samples taken showed a flash point lower than the minimum legal limit established at around 55°C, a chemical anomaly which, in addition to causing engine malfunctions and drops in performance, entails safety risks in the product handling phases. A flash point lower than the legal threshold is in fact almost always indicative of contamination or fraudulent mixing, which occurs when diesel fuel is intentionally "cut" with more volatile and cheaper chemicals - such as solvents, recycled light hydrocarbons or petrol - to illegally increase its volume and evade excise duties. This first phase of the activities concluded with the seizure of over 26,100 liters of non-compliant fuel and the sealing of 4 tanks and 4 dispensing nozzles, with the consequent referral of 5 persons responsible to the judicial authority for the alleged crime of fraud in the exercise of trade and evasion of the assessment or payment of excise duty.

The second operational line focused on the regularity of tariffs and market transparency, where the Fiamme Gialle of the Rome, Civitavecchia and Guidonia Montecelio Groups were engaged in carrying out 34 specific controls on price discipline towards merchants. As a result of these investigations, a total of 9 violations were found, of which 5 due to lack of transparency of the prices displayed, 1 due to irregularities in record keeping and 3 due to failure to previously communicate the prices charged to the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy via the specific IT platform. This obligation of electronic communication is established by law precisely to ensure maximum transparency of the market and allow consumers a clear and immediate comparison of tariffs, preventing potential speculative maneuvers at the pump.