By Chrysostomos Tsoufis

“Heaviness” of the government against illegal fuel stations.

At the beginning of February, AADE inspectors caught a gas station in Oinoi that had been operating for 13 years, since 2010, without a legal license. Of course, it did not have an installed input-output system and issued – when it did – receipts which it never sent to AADE. The owner was of course arrested, the gas station was closed, but despite the multitude of violations, the administrative fine imposed amounted to only €150,000.

With the provisions of the law SEC that are being discussed these days in the Parliament, things are changing and the fines are being tightened. The relevant regulation provides, among other things:

-A fine of €50,000-€500,000 in cases of non-installation of the input-output system with simultaneous revocation of the license to operate the tax warehouse or the customs storage warehouse.
-Fine €1000-€300,000 in cases where the system exists but does not meet all operating conditions. Where appropriate, it is accompanied by a license revocation
-A fine of €10,000-€300,000 and to those who are proven to have contributed or assisted in any way in the commission of the violations.

Fines are doubled for repeat offenders. Recidivism is defined as the repetition of the violation within 3 years from the issuing of the decision to impose a fine.

In addition to monetary fines, prison terms or imprisonment are also provided for:

– Imprisonment of at least 6 months for those who supply or install measuring systems intended for input-output systems and accompanied by fake or falsified certificates.
– Penalty is imposed on those who modify or alter in any way data of the system sent to the central database of AADE, but also on those who trade energy products through tanks that do not have the monitoring system installed.

At the same time, it is foreseen that now only the AADE inspectors have the possibility to seal a fuel station in cases of fraud, but any authority that carries out the inspection and detects the violation. This means that the customs services, the ministry of energy and even the police and any other public control or prosecution authority will be able to lock down petrol stations that the State Chemistry finds – after analyzing samples – to be dealing in adulterated fuel.

The lockout can last from 10 to 90 days depending on the severity of the violation. If smuggling is established, the penalties are imposed regardless of the other criminal or administrative sanctions provided for.