Prohibits Multiple Daily Price Increases
Assemblyman Mike Miller announced that he has introduced legislation aimed at preventing service stations across New York from gouging customers with high gas prices.
With the cost of oil on the rise, according to a press release from Miller’s office, serious competition between gas distributors has caused many stations to charge outrageous amounts for a gallon of gasoline. Gas merchants continuously raise their prices over the course of a 24-hour period, dramatically increasing consumer costs without the actual price of gas going up.
This predatory practice, known as price gouging, allows a deceitful gas distributor to make unreasonable profits at a time when many families are struggling to make ends meet, Miller said.
“As gas prices constantly fluctuate, we must make sure Queens families don’t fall victim to price gouging at the pumps,” said Miller.
The legislation (A.1970) would ban gas stations from adjusting their prices multiple times daily. Distributors usually purchase their gas wholesale and at a fixed rate, allowing many stations to unfairly take advanlaw tage of consumers at a time when gas prices are at the highest levels in months.
Currently, the average price of gas in New York sits at $3.98 a gallon, 22 cents higher than the national average. In many places around the state, gas prices have exceeded $4 per gallon.
This legislation, according to Miller, ensures that Queens families are protected against unfair increases in prices, on top of the increasing costs of transportations.
Gas stations in New York were recently fined by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for unscrupulously increasing costs on consumers after Tropical Storm Irene. One station sold regular, unleaded gas for $4.05 a gallon before the tropical storm. Two days later, the cost of gas at that station jumped to $4.89 a gallon.
“It’s completely unacceptable for stations to use any kind of natural disaster or fluctuations in the price of gas to make an unreasonable profit,” said Miller, “especially at a time when many families can’t afford it.”
In an effort to strengthen protections for victims of price gouging, the legislator noted, the Assembly also passed a bill (A.8340) allowing victims to directly sue price gougers. Currently, only the Attorney General has the power to fine or prosecute violators.
This measure would give consumers the right to seek justice and compensation from dishonest merchants, according to Miller.
