THE Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (“ICCC”) has announced the new retail fuel prices for this month, which will take effect yesterday, Sunday 8th of January, 2023.
IRC in a statement said for this month, the Indicative Retail Prices (IRPs) for petrol, diesel and kerosene will all increase on average, throughout PNG.
These retail price increases are mainly attributed to the inclusion of Goods and Services Taxes (GST), despite, the decrease in international petroleum prices reported in December, 2022.
“The domestic retail fuel prices for this month are inclusive of the IPPs, domestic sea and road freight rates for the first quarter of 2023, the annual wholesale and retail margins for 2023,” the statement said.
“As recently announced by the Government in the 2023 National Budget, the Government’s tax exemptions on fuel prices were amended, which will see Excise Duty Exemptions extended again to 30th June, 2023 whilst GST Exemptions will end. This means that only the GST component will apply again on fuel prices that are sold at the service stations. Despite the reinstatement of GST, under ongoing excise duty exemptions, customers at the service stations will be expected to save K0.61 per litre on petrol and K0.23 toea per litre on diesel in January, 2023.”
“As part of the ICCC’s enforcement and compliance of fuel prices, our Investigation Officers will conduct inspections on all retail service stations to ensure prices of declared petroleum products comply with the allowable maximum prices. The following ICCC officers will conduct compliance inspections in Lae, Mt Hagen, Kokopo and Port Moresby. Inspections in other provinces will be supported by our ICCC Agents and respective Provincial Administration in those provinces.
While retailers may choose to set fuel prices on their pumps to one decimal place, the ICCC will continue to set the maximum price to 2 decimal places.
No fuel pump operator should charge above the Indicative Retail Price for this month’s price regardless of the number of decimal places. This is to ensure compliance with the Prices Regulation Act under which the maximum prices of declared petroleum products are set. Retailers who are displaying prices to 1 decimal place are urged by the ICCC to round the prices down to ensure prices are within the allowable indicative retail prices.”
“ICCC Inspectors will continue to conduct spot checks after 8th January, 2023, to ensure on-going compliance by retail fuel operators.”
Consumers are advised to report any instances of overcharging by retailers through the ICCC’s Consumer Protection Division on telephone number 312 4600, or by contacting our Regional Offices closest to you on the numbers provided above.
