From March last year, in conjunction with the increase in the price of gas, electricity and fuel, to the end of 2022, the Guardia di Finanza has carried out 5,187 checks on roadside fuel destruction plants and commercial depots , alleging 2,809 price discipline violations. Based on what emerges from the data, 717 violations concerned the non-disclosure or discrepancy of the prices charged with respect to those indicated, while 2,092 concerned the failure to notify the ministry. This is what emerges from a statement from the general command of the Guardia di Finanza
Gdf: capillary controls to control increases
The action plan for 2023 concerning the price of fuels, which follows the indications received from Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti, at the same time envisages a “structured and widespread” control activity on the territory, with the aim “to contribute to curb price increases. The aim is to intensify price controls with particular attention to the motorway distribution network and particularly sensitive territorial contexts. The plan has already started and involves over 660 operational departments of the Corps, supported by the special departments.
Three directions
The action of soldiers of the Fiamme Gialle will develop along three lines: the actual activity of “price surveillance”, with the involvement of all departments of the corps; the action of the special departments, which ensure support to the operating departments but also to the guarantor for price surveillance and the competition and market authority in the context of a series of preliminary investigations launched precisely to ascertain any violations of the legislation of sector; the activities in agreement with the judicial authority. Lastly, the Guardia di Finanza underlines that any speculative maneuvers on fuel prices could constitute two different types of crime sanctioned by articles 501 and 501 bis of the penal code: “fraudulent price increases and decreases on the public market or on stock exchanges” and ” speculative maneuvers on commodities”.