With petrol prices continuing to rise significantly, petrol station operators are looking to increase the payment limit for refuelling at unmanned petrol stations.
In the Netherlands, most petrol stations reserve 125 euros from the bank accounts of drivers when they start filling up their cars. This is so petrol station operators can guarantee they get paid for the fuel, with any excess amount being sent back to the account. However, due to rising fuel prices, many motorists are finding that 125 euros' worth of fuel is not enough to fill their tank. This means having to refuel twice.
A number of petrol stations have therefore increased the limit to 150 euros, with further increases being discussed that would see the limit potentially set at 200 euros. "That is not yet a foregone conclusion," said the Dutch Payments Association. "That depends on agreement between all participants in the PIN chain, including the merchants and terminal suppliers."
Jan Harmen Akkerman, an entrepreneur and owner of the mobility platform TanQyou, has noticed the low price limits becoming a problem for motorists: "You can then refuel a second time, but in practice, you see that this hardly happens."
Petrol prices in the Netherlands have been increasing for a while, but have risen significantly since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine. According to Directlease Tankservice, a Dutch transport leasing service, the price of a litre of petrol at over half the petrol pumps in the Netherlands is between 2,10 and 2,20 euros. There are 35 petrol pumps that charge over 2,40 euros a litre, whilst the most expensive station charges 2,48 euros per litre of petrol.
The price of diesel is also rising significantly, with a litre costing over 2 euros at 13 percent of the petrol pumps in the Netherlands. In some places, the cost is over 2,20 euros per litre.