As of today, 1 August, gas stations are required to post the average price of fuel alongside the selling price, in accordance with a government decree-law designed to combat speculation by gas stations and increase transparency. The Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy will send the data every day. Operators of highway gas stations must display the national average price, while all others must display the regional average price. They must do so within two hours of the vending machine being opened. Those who are open 24 hours a day must have their prices displayed by 10:30 a.m. The requirement, which should allow motorists to choose the best place to refuel, was approved in January following a significant increase in prices primarily due to the removal by the government of Giorgia Meloni of the discount on excise duties (i.e. fixed taxes that contribute to the final price). The discount was implemented by Mario Draghi's government to alleviate the sharp price increases that accompanied the outbreak of the Ukrainian war. Although initially necessary to calm the sudden and violent rise in oil and gasoline prices caused by the Ukraine war, most experts later deemed the rebate to be an extremely costly and unfair measure. It cost about a billion euros per month and benefited all traditional car owners: not just those on low incomes or in financial difficulty, but also those who could afford the price increases.
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