Exterminating fines and penalties will be imposed on gas stations that are found to be smuggling fuel and evading taxes.

A Joint Ministerial Decision, as reported by ERT, defines the framework of penalties which range from the definitive revocation of operating licenses and the sealing of facilities for two years, to the confiscation of equipment and the imposition of fines of up to 150,000 euros.

With the decision of the AADE and the relevant Ministries of Finance, Development, Interior and Transport, the instruments and the control procedure are determined, the categories of violations and sanctions are codified, the terms and conditions for the sealing and unsealing process of the facilities, the seizure procedure and destruction of equipment and tanks as well as the conditions for publicizing the details of offenders, violations and penalties, the manner, time and means disclosure. Depending on the violation, it is provided for:

  • Two-year ban and a fine of 150,000 euros with final revocation of the facility’s operating license for a gas station that operates without the inflow-outflow monitoring system
  • Two-year lockout, criminal penalties and a fine of 100,000 euros for meters/pumps, which are not connected or monitored by the input-output system.
  • Two-year ban and a fine of 150,000 euros for “tampered” mechanisms, connection to unlicensed tanks, fake receipts, fake invoices or slips.
  • A fine of 2,000 euros per day and up to 40,000 euros per year in the case of operating a gas station during a breakdown or malfunction of all or part of the input/output system.
  • A fine of 100,000 euros to the installer of the input-output monitoring system that does not meet the requirements.
  • A fine of 100,000 euros to the installer of the inflow/outflow monitoring system accompanied by fake or falsified certificates.
  • A fine of 20,000 euros to a natural or legal person who operates as an installer of inflow/outflow monitoring systems, without having previously notified the Ministry of Development.

The sealing of the facility is carried out by the controlling authority, with the assistance of the police or port authority, where required under the circumstances, following the issuance of a relevant decision.

With regard to the publication of the details of the offenders, a condition is the finding of a violation of the provisions concerning the integrated systems of monitoring and electronic transmission of data inputs – outputs at liquid fuel stations and installations of heating oil sellers, which entails a fine equal to or more than 50,000 euros.

The details of the offenders will be posted on the AADE website and will remain public for 2 years from the date of publication.

They will “go down” in the case where Administrative Courts issue a temporary suspension order or a court decision canceling the publication decision or the imputation act imposing the fine or reducing the amount of the fine below 50,000 euros.

It is worth noting that delinquency in the fuel sector remains high, as indicated both by the series of locks imposed by AADE and by the findings of a recent study by the National Technical University of Athens according to which consumers pay 120 million euros a year for fuel that never ends up in the tanks of their vehicles and short deliveries even reach 24%.