Overview
- Independent monitoring of pump prices, covering April 1 to May 11, counted thousands of unlawful increases after noon despite the law that permits only one 12:00 price hike per day.
- Esso accounted for the most violations with 2,772 unlawful increases at 302 stations, and the average jump at those sites was about 10.7 euro cents.
- bft ranked second with 1,479 violations across 178 of its 566 stations, while Aral registered only 24 breaches across its nationwide network.
- Breaches clustered in the south during the week of April 29 to May 6, when 2,390 increases after 12:30 were logged at 777 stations, led by Bavaria with 543 cases, followed by Baden‑Württemberg with 413 and North Rhine‑Westphalia with 358.
- Industry groups blame server load and transmission delays at the central price relay, and the more‑tanken app is adding a feature for users to report stations that raise prices after noon.