Motorists encouraged to dob in servos as 93 locations fined for price gouging
Motorists are being encouraged to dob in service stations suspected of price gouging as almost 100 locations are fined in a state-wide blitz.
NSW Fair Trading officers inspected nearly 1800, about 75 per cent, of the state's 2400 service stations in the past fortnight.
During the operation, 93 fines were issued, 24 of which were from public tip-offs alone.
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NSW Fair Trading officers inspect service stations across the state. NSW government
Retailers found breaking the rule face on-the-spot fines of $1100 or court penalties of up to $22,000 for individuals and $110,000 for corporations.
The state is monitoring whether service stations are following the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's new price gouging rules and passing down the cost savings from the federal government's fuel excise reduction.
Most of the state's service stations will be physically inspected in the coming weeks, with regional areas being a key target.
In the meantime, NSW Fair Trading has urged motorists to report service stations and price issues via its website or FuelCheck.
It comes as the state pours $2.2 million into upgrading FuelCheck, a government-run app that provides real-time fuel prices, as more people reach for the service in light of surging fuel prices.
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The NSW government is upgrading the FuelCheck app in light of the fuel crisis. NSW government
The number of people using the app increased by 490,000 from 10,000 in January to 500,000 in March.
The funding will improve data collection from fuel retailers, data analysis and design.
"Over the past two weeks, millions of NSW motorists have turned to FuelCheck to help find the best fuel price and navigate fuel supply gaps," Fair Trading Minister Anoulack Chanthivong said.
"These are uncertain times, but we want the people of New South Wales to have the utmost confidence in the real-time price transparency data provided by FuelCheck."
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