Criticism of oil companies

“Fuel prices on highways are a rip-off!”

On the freeways, fuel costs around 60 cents per liter more than in the municipalities.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/ARBÖ)

A tank of gas on freeways is almost 30 euros more expensive than at "normal" petrol pumps. ARBÖ sharply criticizes the oil companies and calls on the future Minister of Infrastructure.

If you're on a budget, you avoid them like the devil avoids holy water: highway filling stations. This is because the price differences to petrol pumps away from the high-ranking road network are enormous. ARBÖ Lower Austria has now taken a closer look: Last Wednesday, a liter of diesel cost a whopping 2.129 euros on the A1 near St. Pölten, but only 1.569 euros on Porschestraße. The ratio is similar on the A 2 near Wiener Neustadt or on the A 5 near Hochleiten in the Weinviertel. On average, a 50-liter tank is around 28 euros more expensive!

The prices cannot be explained by purely rational arguments. In the end, it is the consumers who are being asked to pay.

Franz Pfeiffer, Präsident des ARBÖ Niederösterreich

Bild: ARBÖ

"This surcharge is outrageous and cannot be explained in a comprehensible way. It's a rip-off," says ARBÖ-NÖ President Franz Pfeiffer, taking the oil companies to task: "They're making themselves a nice pile of money from the motorists!"

Checks in the event of price differences
Pfeiffer therefore not only advises drivers to only visit these filling stations in an emergency, but also makes a demand to the future Minister of Infrastructure: "He must call in the Federal Competition Authority to check how these blatant price differences can occur." 

Pfeiffer recommends that anyone traveling during the semester break should find out about cheap fuel options along the route before setting off. "That way you can save money for your vacation fund," says the ARBÖ boss.