Dept of Fair Trading to refer petrol price offenders to ACCC

AAP General News (Australia)
08-23-1999
Dept of Fair Trading to refer petrol price offenders to ACCC

Investigators from the Department of Fair Trading begin assessing today whether
prosecutions can be mounted against players in the New South Wales petrol industry in the wake
of the price hike controversy.

Government sources have confirmed the legal division of the Department of Fair Trading will
assess specific allegations made on the NSW Petrol Hotline.

Allegations and evidence collected on the hotline, which closed last night with 3,500
calls, will be forwarded to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

NSW Fair Trading Minister JOHN WATKINS says the response to the hotline has been
overwhelming.

It was established after a wide disparity between petrol prices in urban and rural areas
sparked an outcry.

The petrol industry says the hike in prices, which have reached 80-plus cents in some
regions, is due to the doubling of world crude oil prices.

AAP RTV pwa/rp

KEYWORD: PETROL PRICES (SYDNEY)

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