Motorists being ripped off at almost 5 per cent of fuel pumps across Australia, reveals National Measurement Institute

Motorists are being fleeced of millions of dollars a year by dodgy fuel dispensers, but regulators won’t say which servos are at fault.

About five per cent of petrol and diesel pumps checked last financial year were short-changing motorists in a consumer rip off worth up to $36m a year.

However, motorists who complain will never know the outcome of their complaint, let alone get a refund for fuel they never received, with the regulator citing “confidentiality”.

Inspectors from the National Measurement Institute (NMI) which checks and enforces the nation’s measurement laws tested 2484 retail fuel dispensers in 2023-24 and found 11 per cent were not accurate, beyond a “permissible error” range.

The good news was 6.1 per cent of the pumps were making the error in favour of consumers, but the bad news was motorists who used 4.9 per cent of the dodgy pumps were being ripped off, possibly for years.

“Most dispensers found to be inaccurate to consumer disadvantage were in the range of 1–3 times the maximum permissible error of 0.3 per cent,” the NMI says.

“This equates to between 30c and 90c for every $100 of fuel delivered.

“Although this is a relatively small sum for an individual consumer, if applied to 4.9 per cent of all fuel sales in the year it amounts to between $12m and $36m in total detriment for the Australian community.”

Motorist Michael Dunn of Edwardstown believes he was ripped off, having filled two containers with a combined capacity of 25 litres at a southern suburbs service station.

“The display on the pump showed 29.47 litres — I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I didn’t even fill them right to the brim let alone overflowing.

“My two containers were 20 litres and 5 litres and it would be impossible to put an extra 4.79 litres in them. I was overcharged by more than $8 — either accidentally or purposely.”

Michael Dunn with two petrol containers, a 20 litre and a 5 litre, he filled then found he was charged for almost 30 litres. Picture: Dean Martin

Michael Dunn’s two containers totalling 25 litres, he was charged for 29.79 litres. Picture: Supplied

Michael Dunn’s photo of the petrol pump price after he filled a 20 litre and a 5 litre container, showing the pump supposedly dispensed 29.79 litres. Picture: Michael Dunn

Mr Dunn complained to the NMI but they replied “as trade measurements are subject of confidentiality obligations we are not able to provide you with the details of the outcome of the investigation.”

Mr Dunn says he understands not every pump in Australia can be routinely inspected but said “it seems many servos are quietly rorting the lack of inspections and making huge profits by deception.”

The NMI notes if a person responsible for the use of a fuel dispenser is found to be short-measuring their customers, they can be fined up to $222,000 per offence.

It says only 34 of the 300 fuel-related complaints received in 2023–24 were justified when investigated, consistent with results in previous years.

Originally published as Motorists being ripped off at almost 5 per cent of fuel pumps across Australia, reveals National Measurement Institute