DIG opens investigation to investigate gas station

By ETCO
30/05/2012

Source: Diário de Ourinhos (Ourinhos - SP) - 24/05/2012

The Civil Police through DIG (Police Station of General Investigations) was this Wednesday (23) at a gas station located on Avenida Domingo Camerlingo Caló collecting samples of gasoline and alcohol to investigate possible adulteration of the product. A police investigation was launched at the request of the Public Prosecutor.

According to information from the DIG delegate, João Beffa, the investigation began after complaints to the Public Prosecutor's Office, due to the different price the establishment has been charging. Approximately three months ago, the gas station sold gasoline at R $ 2,29, and 20 days ago the value dropped to R $ 2,18, well below the price practiced by most stations in the city and in the country.

“We went to the Gas Station with technical expertise, agents of the Ourinhos tax post, as determined by the delegated Marília State tax post. We collected gasoline and alcohol to perform an exam regarding the quality of this product. This sample collected will be sent to a laboratory in São Paulo and a whole procedure will be adopted for verification ”, said Beffa.

An inspection was also carried out by the tax agents in order to check for possible tax evasion, where the gas station's accounting and tax documentation was seen for eventual verification of tax evasion.

“There is an investigation underway by DIG. The station continues to function normally, as we have nothing to justify taking any other measures other than checking and investigating the quality of the product. This investigation was requested by the Public Ministry ”, he highlighted.

The result of the fuel samples will be released in 30 days. “If, of course, everything is regular, it will continue to function normally, if we find any irregularities, adulteration of fuel, then the State Revenue Service will take steps to seal the post. Adulterating fuel is a crime and the person responsible can be arrested, ”he concluded.

 The war of posts

In the last few days, a “war” waged by some stations in the city caused the value of fuel at the pump to drop by an average of 27%. The competition made the product sold in the city become the cheapest in the State of São Paulo.

The “war” between the establishments started two months ago after the opening of a gas station on Avenida Domingos Carmelingo Caló that started selling gasoline at R $ 2,29.

With the value well below the market, the post registered a boom of movement, and consequently removed customers from the competition. To try to stop the drop in both gasoline and alcohol, establishments in a large fuel network have adopted an aggressive strategy in the market and have also started to lower the price at the pumps.

The gasoline that was sold by the gas stations for R $ 2,79, fell in 15 days, on average, 27%. Today the value of gasoline is R $ 2,18 and R $ 2,19 and that of alcohol R $ 1,49. The other establishments still sell the products at the market price, that is, at R $ 2,75 and R $ 1,70.

To give you an idea, compared to the other cities in the State of São Paulo, Ourinhos is the one with the lowest fuel value. In Jaú, for example, gasoline is sold for R $ 2,60 and alcohol for R $ 1,82. In Marília the price is R $ 2,74 and R $ 1,90 respectively, and Ribeirão Preto the price is R $ 2,46 and R $ 1,72.