Fuel discounts quickly lose their effect – prices rise again

The fuel discount should noticeably relieve drivers. But just a few days after the tax cut began, prices at the pumps rose again.

Super E10 cost a nationwide average of 2.137 euros per liter on Sunday, according to the ADAC. That was 2.3 cents more than on Thursday. Diesel prices rose by 0.9 cents to 2.253 euros.

The ADAC sees this as a development that is difficult for consumers to understand. Oil prices and the euro-dollar exchange rate have hardly changed recently. Nevertheless, part of the initial relief from the tax cut has already been used up again.

Cheap offers are becoming rarer

Cheap offers are also becoming increasingly rare. Shortly after the introduction of the fuel discount, E10 was available at many gas stations for less than two euros per liter. These prices are now much more difficult to find.

In Munich, for example, on Monday only about one in three gas stations offered E10 at least temporarily below the two-euro mark. On Thursday it was more than one in two.

How much the tax cut of 16.7 cents per liter is actually passed on to drivers remains controversial. The industry association En2x emphasizes that its member companies have passed on the discount in full. At the same time, the association points to recent increases in purchasing prices for fuels on the global market.