The fight against rising fuel prices will be the first serious test for the coalition government of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
A decree came into force at the weekend to prevent speculation at the pumps and curb inflation.
Gas station leaseholders not only have to clearly show the different prices per liter for self-service and gas station attendant service they demand, but also the average price for the fuel in question determined daily by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Matthias Rub
Political correspondent for Italy, the Vatican, Albania and Malta based in Rome.
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Petrol station operators face fines of up to 6,000 euros if they do not clearly sign petrol and diesel prices and the national average price.
If a gas station violates this three times, it can be closed for seven to 90 days.
Gas station operators wanted to go on strike
The gas station operators criticized the measure as disproportionate and unjust and initially threatened a two-day strike at the end of January.
After meeting with the government, they dropped the threat of a strike.
Another meeting between the government and petrol station operators is planned for this Tuesday.
In a first reaction to the entry into force of the decree, a representative of the gas station tenants expressed disappointment and accused the government of trying to make the gas station operators a scapegoat for their own failure to fight higher energy prices.
At the end of the year, the tax breaks for petrol and diesel granted by the previous government under Mario Draghi shortly after the start of the Ukraine war expired.
The tax reductions were initially 30 cents, most recently 18 cents per liter.
As a result, fuel was cheaper in Italy than in Austria and Germany for several months.
The tax breaks cost the state "a billion a month," said Economics Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti of the right-wing national Lega to justify the end of the de facto fuel subsidy.
Thanks to the recent drop in oil prices, the rise in fuel prices was moderate compared to previous highs.
In the week from January 1st to 8th, the national average prices were almost 17 cents per liter above the level before the turn of the year - the price increase almost corresponded to the expired tax reduction of 18 cents per liter.
Meloni, who won the early elections on September 25 with her right-wing conservative party Brothers of Italy and has been leading a centre-right coalition since October, had in fact promised the continuation of the tax reduction for fuel in her election manifesto: “Freezing government revenue through taxes on energy and fuel as well as an automatic reduction in VAT and fuel surcharges," it said.
Meloni now countered that she had not promised any reduction in fuel prices, which the left-wing opposition did not want to see as a subtlety.
To cushion the increase in energy prices, the government is planning a fuel bonus of up to 200 euros for low-income commuters and a monthly subsidy of 60 euros for users of public transport with an annual income of up to 20,000 euros.