State of Wisconsin Orders Gas Station Owner to Raise Prices
State Claims Gasoline Prices Fall Below the Allowable Minimum Markup
Raj Bhandari is the owner of the Center City BP station in Merrill. The Associated Press reports Bhandari had offered a gasoline discount of two cents per gallon for senior citizens. He also offered a discount card allowing sports boosters a price break of three cents per gallon. One patron, Dale Van Camp tried to support the local youth hockey program by purchasing a fifty-dollar card. Van Camp said the card would have saved him about one hundred dollars per year on gasoline.
But the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection has objected to the discounts. The state's Unfair Sales Act requires gas stations to sell gasoline for 9.2 percent more than the wholesale price. The AT & CP Department says Center City BP's discount offers violate the Unfair Sales Act.
Bhandari said that he received notice in April from the state auditor that the state would file a lawsuit against him if he does not raise gas prices. "In our case, it's cutting the state margin," he told the Wausau Daily Herald. He could be subject to a penalty for each gallon of discounted gas he has sold. If that happens a judge will determine the amount for Bhandari's fine. Van Camp said he has asked state representative Don Friske (R-Merrill) to consider amending the law. The change would allow locally owned stations to offer discounts that would benefit local schools.
Bhandari bought the Center City BP station a year ago. He said about ten percent of his customers had been using the discount cards. Bhandari has informed his customers the discounts have been discontinued. But he is concerned that raising prices will cause customers to believe he stopped offering the discounts to make more money for himself. Annette Stover, a clerk at Center City BP, said the station's employees have been doing their best to explain the change to those patrons who were using the discounts.
Published by R.E. Norton
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10 Comments
Post a CommentDictator - exactly .... thats why they are politicians. And G Dubbya is their king.
ive been to that gas station several time and the guy who reported this was is my freidns dad lol
This is weird. I used to work at a Kroger regional office, and the gas guys were on the other side of my cube wall. I heard them calling to check on area prices all the time, but I never heard of them worrying that they'd hit a state minimum in any of the five states they served. I wonder if this is even constitutional.
The laws of gas pricing get very tricky sometimes at the business level, especially when it comes to competition...
While the regulatory glitch is regrettable, it is mostly a strawman. The real reasons have something to do with supply and demand-the manipulation of supply and demand, that is. It is no accident that gas prices have nearly tripled under the current administration. Think I'm wrong? If the next quartely announcement doesn't indicate new record profits for oil companies, I'll eat my shoes.
Supply and demand. If you lower the price, people that don't need it as badly are going to freak out and buy as much as they can, lowering supply and increasing demand, driving our prices and the prices for people who need it much more up. It is a shame that it had to happen, but that's how the system works.
It was nice to read that someone was trying to help seniors and youth groups out. To bad about the unfortunate out come.
That's insane.
That's too bad!
Just unbelievable! Only in America, right?