PM takes gas station owners to police station in Paraná

The Military Police of Paraná took to the police station ten owners of gas stations in the municipality of Cornélio Procópio, in the north of the state, with the suspicion of practicing abusive prices in the sale of gasoline and diesel. They were charged and released.

At the request of the Public Ministry of Paraná, which received complaints from consumers, the police caught the sale of fuel with readjustment even before the increase announced by Petrobras came into force this Friday (11). The PM found infractions in six posts in the city this Thursday (10). In one of the places, a liter of regular gasoline was being sold at R$ 7.69.

The inspection was resumed this Friday, when the police found new irregularities in six more posts in the municipality, two of which were the same as the previous day. Businessmen had refused to lower prices and gasoline was being sold at R$7.38 a liter.

This week, the average price of gasoline at Brazilian stations reached R$ 6,683, according to a survey by the ANP (National Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels). Data collection still does not bring the impact of mega-increases in fuel, as it is carried out in the first days of the week.

“The refinery’s price increase was authorized, but the gas station owners have not yet purchased new fuel and would have to sell it according to the purchase price. As they increased before, the Public Ministry understands that it is an abusive pricing practice” , said First Lieutenant Alex Belinelli, 48, of the 18th Military Police Battalion that carried out the operation.

The ten businessmen are being investigated for “provoking a rise or fall in the prices of goods […] through false news”, a crime typified by law 1521, which provides for a prison sentence of two to ten years.

Police did not release the names of the gas station owners. The report was unable to locate their defense.

Also in the state, in Foz do Iguaçu, the race of drivers to supply fuel generated queues of up to four hours at the border with Argentina.

Paraná’s Procon is monitoring the situation at gas stations across the state. “If it is found that there was abuse in prices, companies are subject to fines ranging from R$ 700 to R$ 11 million”, says the head of Procon-PR, Claudia Silvano.

The agency guides consumers to use the official channels to report the abusive price of fuel and also to search in the Menor Preço app, from Nota Paraná, which pumps have the cheapest prices.

Truckers mobilize

The mega-increase in prices provoked a reaction from truck drivers. Plínio Dias, president of the National Council for Road Cargo Transport, an association that brings together 35,000 truck drivers in Brazil, says that no stoppage has been determined, but conversations between the leaders are ongoing.

“The crowd is starting to move. The truck drivers are wanting to stop, but nobody wants to set a date, except the PRF [Polícia Rodoviária Federal] will be fined. We support any peaceful stoppage to defend the category’s agenda, without involving politics in the middle”, says the representative.

According to Dias, since Thursday, many truck drivers are failing to load their trucks “because the freight does not pay”, which could cause a shortage of goods in the coming days.

“The class of storks has been stopped since yesterday, they are not loading cars at any dealership in Brazil. Today they are just returning home”, explains the spokesperson.

Dias regrets the federal government’s stance and says that many of his colleagues are outraged and dissatisfied. He estimates that 90% of the category supported the government, but many are sorry.