Four months of government assistance to refuel. From this Friday, April 1 and until July 31, each time you fill the tank of your vehicle at a service station, you will benefit from a discount of 18 euro cents including tax per litre. A gift that may appear modest in view of the exorbitant prices displayed at the pump, but which still represents nearly 11 euros in discount for a full 60 liters. And which will cost 3 billion euros to public finances.
Good news for motorists’ wallets, which could increase depending on where they fill up. Indeed, some distribution networks, such as Carrefour, Leclerc or Casino, offer various promotional mechanisms on their fuels. Same thing at TotalEnergies, which will pay an additional 10 cents per liter from this Friday.
To avoid any misunderstanding, be aware that the prices displayed will already include the reduction of 18 euro cents including tax. On the other hand, promotional offers from distributors will be granted at the time of payment at the checkout.
To ensure that this purchasing power protection measure affects all types of motorists, individuals and professionals, almost all fuels are concerned in metropolitan France: diesel, fishing diesel, non-road diesel (GNR), gasoline (SP95, SP98-E5, SP-95-E10), fuel liquefied petroleum gas (LPG-c), vehicle natural gas (NGV) in compressed (CNG) or liquefied (LNG) form, super-ethanol (E85) and diesel ethanol (ED95).
Sanctions if the rebate is not applied
If the measure is supposed to stop on July 31, it is likely that the rebate will continue to apply in early August, until the tanks containing this state-subsidized fuel are completely empty. Moreover, the government has warned: each liter purchased at a reduced price with taxpayers’ money must be resold to motorists with this same reduction.
To prevent certain distributors from continuing to sell it at a high price, the fraud prevention officers (DGCCRF) will increase the number of checks. In the event of an infringement, the scammers will have to reimburse the sums unduly received and pay 10% of its value in addition. Added to this are also convictions and fines for misleading advertising or false declarations to the administration.
Finally, for motorists who are surprised that this discount has already applied here and there since the beginning of the week, mainly in large distribution stations such as Leclerc or Système U, be aware that they do not respect the rules of the game. A charter was signed by all the players who undertook not only to pass the state aid entirely on to consumers, but also to apply the rebate from 1 April. Only, some took advantage of having quickly received this fuel sold off last weekend to sell it to their consumers. “It’s dishonest, it disrupts the market, denounces Francis Pousse, president of the owner-operators of service stations. For some, we see what their signature is worth… Not much. »