The Consumer Ombudsman has warned the country's gas stations that they must not reserve "unreasonably high amounts" on consumers' accounts. The Consumer Ombudsman writes this in a press release.
Several gas stations have a practice of reserving an amount from customers prior to refueling cars. According to the Consumer Ombudsman, the practice has in some places been to reserve up to 1,500 kroner prior to refueling. This is not in line with what most consumers think, says Consumer Ombudsman Torben Jensen.
- When a company reserves an amount on a consumer's account, the amount must be in reasonable proportion to the amount that the consumer ends up paying. It is therefore unreasonable when gas stations reserve around 900 kroner or more from customers who need to refuel a smaller vehicle, says Torben Jensen in the press release.
Too long to release the amount
When a gas station reserves an amount on the consumer's account, the consumer cannot control the money. The reserved amount must be released immediately after the bank receives final notification of the payment.
The Consumer Ombudsman states that it has received complaints from consumers who have not had the reserved amounts released quickly enough. In some cases, it took up to 11 days before the amount was released.
- When an amount is reserved on a consumer's account, the consumer loses control of the money. It is therefore important that the consumer agrees to this and that the amount is released again as soon as possible, says Torben Jensen.
The Consumer Ombudsman states that several gas stations have changed their practices after the rules in this area were tightened. This applies to Shell and Uno-X, among others.
Consumers can now choose the amount of the reservation on screens at gas stations, which corresponds to the maximum amount they can refuel for.
According to the Consumer Ombudsman, OK has changed the reservation amount to 100 kroner, while Q8 continues to reserve 950 kroner. According to the press release from the Consumer Ombudsman, the company has stated that it is "working on a solution".
/ritzau/
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