The Ministry of Industry and Trade is proposing a new framework that would give fuel suppliers and distributors the freedom to decide their own wholesale and retail prices. This change matters because it could directly affect the price you pay at the pump.

Under the proposal, fuel businesses must submit mandatory price declarations, allowing regulators to monitor pricing behaviour and detect possible collusion. The requirement applies to all suppliers and distributors that set prices under the market mechanism.

Major suppliers would be limited to pricing no more than 2% above their own published retail prices, while independent distributors could not charge more than the highest price announced by major suppliers in the same area. These caps are intended to prevent excessive price spikes in any region.

The pricing formula for major suppliers will include the fuel purchase price, sourcing costs, a standard business‑cost allowance, profit and taxes. The standard allowance will be adjusted each year according to the previous year’s consumer price index (CPI).

Fuel businesses must announce any price change at least 30 minutes before it starts and file a price declaration by the end of the next working day. The Ministry of Industry and Trade will use this data to spot price‑fixing, cartels or other anti‑competitive conduct.

In short, the new rules give fuel companies more flexibility to set prices that reflect real costs, but strict caps and real‑time reporting are built in to keep prices fair and to curb collusion. Consumers should expect price movements that follow market conditions rather than fixed government rates.