Eni's diesel price cap rose from 2.19 to 2.25 cents per liter . This was due to the expiration, at midnight between October 5th and 6th, of the government's 6.1-cent tax rebate on diesel fuel. This was also due to the failure, thus far, to apply the mechanism on mobile excise duties .
As the National Consumers Union reports, there is no decree in the Official Journal detailing the resulting discount. Mobile excise taxes are a mechanism by which the state uses the increased VAT revenue it collects from rising fuel prices to provide a discount on excise duties.
Starting today, diesel excise duties have returned to normal levels, and companies are adjusting, increasing the price cap by 6 cents. Eni, in its announcement of the price cap, specified that the cap was "related to the current tax relief on excise duties." With the excise relief expiring, prices will rise: according to Staffetta Quotidiana, Eni has increased its recommended diesel prices by 6 cents per liter .
And in Sardinia, after a week of progressive and constant decrease, the average price of diesel is rising again : today it stands at 2.261 euros per liter, yesterday it was 2.255. The price of gasoline has dropped from 2.056 yesterday to 2.054 today.
"The Government has broken its promises," Codacons denounces, "it had announced the application of the mobile excise duty mechanism starting from October 6, but the long-awaited inter-ministerial decree by Mase-Mef has still not been seen, with the consequence that for the first time since last March, Italians do not enjoy any discount on fuel taxation , and can only rely on the independent initiatives of the oil companies."
« The betrayal of the Government, which, contrary to what the Prime Minister promised on September 16, has not yet implemented the mobile excise duty system, has produced its first negative effects , reversing a virtuous decline in fuel prices that had been ongoing since September 27, after the first decision by the oil companies to apply a discount», states Massimiliano Dona, president of the National Consumers Union .
(Unioneonline)