RJ government will use Procon to force gas station to reduce gasoline price

The government of Rio de Janeiro will use the Consumer Protection Code to force gas stations to reduce the price of a liter of gasoline and ethanol starting this Monday (4), informed the Consumer Protection agency of the Rio de Janeiro (Procon-RJ) to Estadão/Broadcast. The fines, based on the size of the company and the infraction, can reach R$ 12 million, according to the agency.

Starting this Monday, the operation “Magnifying glass on the bomb” will begin, announced last Friday by the state government, which on the same date reduced ICMS from 32% to 18%, following Supplementary Law 194, enacted last week. The government of Rio forecasts a drop of at least R$ 1.19 per liter of gasoline and R$ 0.79 per liter of ethanol.

According to Procon, the gas station that does not reduce the price of fuel will be fined and can be fined, based on the Consumer Code. After the assessment, an administrative process will be opened that can generate a fine, the amount of which will depend on the size of the company and the infraction committed. The maximum fine that can be applied by the agency is R$ 12 million.

The government said it hopes that the population will help to denounce the stations that have not reduced prices, and also counts on the competitiveness of the market to ensure the drop in fuels.

For Sindicomb, the fuel resale union in Rio de Janeiro, the strong competition between the stations in Rio should guarantee the reduction of prices. According to the union, the president of Procon himself, Cássio Coelho, explained in a meeting with gas station owners after the announcement of the ICMS reduction, that the body will only issue a “dispute record” if it realizes that the establishment received fuel at a cheaper price. and did not pass, that is, an exaggerated profit contestation. For this, the invoices of the stations will be required.

Free since 1997, but managed by the government, the prices of derivatives have been a major concern for the re-election of President Jair Bolsonaro, an ally of Cláudio Castro, governor of Rio, who is trying to maintain the position inherited from former governor Wilson Witzel, who was impeached in 2021. Castro was Witzel’s deputy and is now running for governor.

“The state government will be relentless in demanding that the reduction bring benefits to the final consumer. There is no way to make such a reduction and the money stay in the hands of businessmen,” Castro said in a statement on Friday.

He informed that he will open a special hotline on the Disque Denúncia to discover the abuses that may be practiced by the gas stations.