Can you claim the 20-cent discount at the petrol station if they don't apply it to you?

On Friday 1 April, the Royal Decree-Law 6/2022 of 29 March came into force. This text finally brought the measures the government intends to use to reduce the impact of rising fuel prices. According to the Executive, these price increases are due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: petrol prices have risen by 14% and diesel by 25%. Among the measures, the most notable is the 20-cent per litre discount on fuel purchases. But what happens if petrol stations don’t apply it? Can you claim it?

As we told you just a week ago, the 20-cent discount is split into 15 cents contributed by the State and 5 cents by the oil companies. In the case of Repsol and Cepsa, the discounts reach up to 30 cents in total. Service stations are responsible for applying the discount until 30 June. The discount will only appear on purchase receipts, never on the price displays at the pump.

On the purchase receipt you should be able to see the price without the discount, and then the amount of the discount and the final price. The truth is that on the first day some service stations collapsed due to a lack of time to adapt their computer systems, protocols, etc. As a result, some customers were unable to enjoy the 20-cent discount.

Can you claim the 20-cent discount at petrol stations?

As a way to solve the problem, some service stations provided an assistance phone number, but the first thing you should do is request a complaints form to put in writing that the discount has not been applied. Along with the complaints form, you must attach the receipt showing the date, the time and the absence of the discount.

The service station will keep one copy, which is sent to Consumer Affairs, and we as consumers keep another to follow the process and file the relevant claims. Therefore, the answer to whether you can claim the 20-cent discount per litre of fuel purchased is yes.

These collapses may remain limited to the first day, but there may be some small or low-cost service station that refuses to apply the discount. Remember that it is a mandatory discount and you are entitled to claim it. Now you know how to do it, so the process will be much simpler.