• Before the long weekend, we would like to remind consumers that they themselves can check the fuel quality at inspected stations. All you have to do is check the map at the website of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.
• Last year, the Trade Inspection Authority contested 1.37 percent of liquid fuel samples controlled at stations operated by randomly selected enterprises.
• The best quality liquid fuels were found in Lubelskie, Łódzkie, Małopolskie, Opolskie, Podkarpackie, Świętokrzyskie and Warmińsko-Mazurskie voivodeships, the worst quality – in Podlaskie, Zachodniopomorskie and Kujawsko-Pomorskie voivodeships.

The Trade Inspection Authority has scrutinized four types of liquid fuel available on the market: diesel, petrol, LPG and biofuels. During the first inspection performed in 2003, the share of liquid fuels that failed to meet the quality requirements equaled 30 percent. Over the next years, the number of irregularities discovered at stations operated by randomly selected enterprises was dropping considerably, and has remained to the level below 3 percent since 2015.

“As a result of inspections carried out by the Trade Inspection Authority, the qulity of liquid fuels in Poland keeps improving with each passing year. A lot of effort has already been made to ensure that drivers can fill up their tanks with the highest quality fuel,” says Tomasz Chróstny, President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.

The quality of liquid fuels is controlled in two ways. Firstly, randomly selected fuel stations are inspected – it seems that this method is the most efficient in reflecting the actual situation regarding fuel quality in Poland. Secondly, the Trade Inspection Authority checks those enterprises who have been reported by consumers, law enforcement agencies, or who have been flagged during previous inspections. In total, taking into account stations selected at random and based on complaints, 1.86 percent of all samples failed to meet the quality requirements.

Randomly selected fuel stations

1.37 percent of liquid fuel samples collected randomly in 2019 failed to meet the requirements (as compared to 1.90 percent the year before). Similarly as in 2018, the irregularities were more often identified in petrol (1.01 percent) than diesel (1.86 percent). The random sample was slightly larger than last year: in total, 1023 samples collected at 1023 stations were examined by the inspectors.

The most irregularities were identified in the following voivodeships: Podlaskie - 5.88 percent, Zachodniopomorskie – 5.66 percent and Kujawsko-Pomorskie – 4.92 percent of analysed samples. On the other hand, in Lubelskie, Lubuskie, Łódzkie, Małopolskie, Opolskie, Podkarpackie, Świętokrzyskie and Warmińsko-Mazurskie, the Trade Inspection Authority did not identify any randomly selected sample that failed to meet the requirements.

The random Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) tests conducted in 2019 have shown irregularities in the case of 0.60 percent of the samples analysed (as compared to 1.43 percent the year before).

Inspections outside the system - stations about which complaints have been received

As every year, the Trade Inspection Authority also inspected stations against which drivers have filed complaints, stations identified by law enforcement agencies, as well as stations at which irregularities were identified in the previous years. Out of 658 diesel fuel and petrol samples collected at 520 stations, 2.74 percent were contested by the inspectors (a significant improvement has been recorded, as the same share equaled 6.63 percent the year before). In most cases, the reservations concerned diesel – 4.46 percent of the samples (as compared to 9.98 percent the year before). In the case of petrol, the 2019 inspection did not reveal any irregularities (as compared to 0.82 percent the year before). As far as LPG is concerned, the inspectors contested 1.92 percent of the samples, which is an improvement compared to 2018, when the figure equaled 2 percent. The highest number of deviations from quality requirements applicable to liquid fuels was recorded in the following voivodeships: Zachodniopomorskie (13.64 percent) and Lubuskie (13.04 percent).

Contested parameters

The most frequently contested parameters included, in the case of diesel: the so-called oxidation stability, i.e. resistance to oxidation stated in hours.Oxidation is manifested by the fuel becoming cloudy, as well as by resin residue forming in the fuel tank and system. This may lead, inter alia, to the clogging of fuel filters, contaminaton of injection valves and to other defects of the fuel system.

As for petrol, the tests usually identified cases of the failure to meet the values set out for the vapour pressure parameter. The failure to meet this parameter may lead to deterioration of the engine’s work. It may choke and stall. The second most frequent irregularity were distillation parameters. Distillation impacts the smoothness of the engine’s operation and its ability to produce maximum power. Failure to meet this parameter leads to improper combustion and excessive engine wear.

In the case of LPG, the objections concerned poor results of the copper corrosion test, which may lead to corrosion of certain engine components.

Actions taken by the Trade Inspection Authority

In 2019, the Trade Inspection Authority issued 10 decisions on withdrawal from the market of liquid fuels which did not meet the applicable standards, and provided the Energy Regulatory Office with information on 47 filling stations where breaches of the terms and conditions of licenses granted for trading in liquid fuels and of provisions of the Energy Law were identified. The President of the Energy Regulatory Office may impose fines on entrepreneurs who violate their license conditions by selling improper quality fuels.

Additionally, the Trade Inspection Authority submitted 23 suspected offense notifications to the applicable prosecutor offices. The regulations in force provide for severe sanctions for trading in poor quality fuels – a fine of up to PLN 1 million or imprisonment for the period between 3 months and 5 years.

2020 - inspections in progress

The results of fuel quality inspections performed from January to May 2020 are already in. They pertain to enterprises selected at random and those against whom complaints were filed. From the beginning of the year until the end of May 2020, the Trade Inspection Authority collected and analysed a total of 632 liquid fuel samples, including 316 diesel and 316 petrol samples. 22 liquid fuel samples (3.48 percent) failed to meet the applicable quality requirements, including 20 diesel samples (6.33 percent) and 2 petrol samples (0.63 percent).  As regards LPG, a total of 133 samples were collected and analysed since the beginning of the year until the end of May 2020 – 2 of them did not meet the applicable quality requirements, which represents 1.77 percent.

Where to look for information

The list of filling stations and fuel wholesalers inspected by the Trade Inspection Authority at the request of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection is available on the Office’s website, in the form of a purpose-designed map. The map allows to locate stations and wholesale facilities by town/city. A legend explaining the symbols and letters used in the tables is provided under the map. The letter D means that a given sample meets the quality requirements (parameters) provided for in the applicable legal regulations.

Where to look for help

You suspect that bad fuel might have damaged your engine? You were required to cover the cost of repairs? File a complaint with the filling station owner. Stations selling poor quality fuels may be also reported to the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, using a special form. The Trade Inspection Authority should be notified as well. It will assist consumers in finding an amicable solution to their dispute with the entrepreneur concerned. If the seller does not agree to solve the problem amicably, assistance in seeking the satisfaction of one’s rights in court will be provided, free of charge, by one of the consumer’s ombudsmen.

If you have noticed, while filling up at the station, that the pump reading is by a few liters higher than the capacity of your fuel tank, report the problem to the Central Office of Measures. Inspectors of the Central Office of Measures may inspect a given station and verify whether the pump meter readings correspond to the amount of fuel actually sold.

Consumer support:

Phone: +48 801 440 220 or +48 22 290 89 16 – consumer helpline
E-mail: [SCODE]cG9yYWR5QGRsYWtvbnN1bWVudG93LnBs[ECODE]
Consumer ombudsmen – in your town or district
Regional Consumer Centres: 22 299 60 90 – Dlakonsumenta.pl

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone +48 695 902 088, +48 22 55 60 246
E-mail: [SCODE]Yml1cm9wcmFzb3dlQHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL