The owners of service stations in Morocco have declined any responsibility for the increase in fuel prices. It is the distribution companies that control prices, they say, noting that with the entry into force of the decision to liberalize fuel prices under the Benkirane government ” prices have become subject to the logic of international and national markets“.
Following the significant increase in fuel prices in the Kingdom which caused general indignation, the National Federation of owners, traders and managers of service stations in Morocco has come out of its silence.
In a statement, the Federation clarified that “ it is the fuel distribution companies that set the prices, taking into account the stock they have, while the service stations find themselves obliged to follow the price recommended by them ”.
Therefore, she stressed, the profit margin of the stations remains fixed and stable, whatever the selling price “.
The absence of implementing texts for the laws regulating hydrocarbons and the delay in their publication under the era of the previous government, accentuated the chaos in this sector, raised the National Federation of owners, traders and managers of service stations. in Morocco.
In this regard, the owners of service stations called on the Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Leila Benali, “ to accelerate the promulgation of these laws, in consultation with professionals in the sector through the activation of the Joint Committee made up of members of the Ministry and of the Federation, previously formede ”.
In a statement to MoroccoLatestNews, the president of the National Federation of owners, traders and managers of service stations in Morocco, Jamal Zrikem, stressed that professionals in the sector stand alongside the Moroccan consumer because of this increase in fuel prices, while affirming to be in direct contact with the consumer on this matter. “This price increase exhausts us and harms us, just like the Moroccan consumer ”, he assured.
In this sense, the Federation called on the government of Aziz Akhannouch to intervene in order to take urgent measures to protect the purchasing power of the consumer, while maintaining the stability of fuel prices.
” As professionals and owners of gas stations, we have a fixed profit margin, which has nothing to do with the increase in the selling price. Moreover, we have suffered damage due to the high number of transactions which is followed by the increase in the minimum tax which is unfairly imposed on us, despite the fact that many stations have incurred losses and found themselves in the obligation to pay “, highlighted the Federation.
To remedy this situation, she proposed “ a revision of taxes, even temporarily, as they constitute around 50% of the price structure ”. She also proposed that there be ” a variable royalty which contributes to maintaining purchasing power and price stability ”.
The Federation also pleaded for “ the adoption of a tax reduction mechanism, in the event of a price increase ‘, while in lower fuel prices, she advocates “The application of the tax so that prices are controlled in a reasonable manner”.
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