30 major fuel retailers under investigation for price gouging in Indiana

The Indiana attorney general’s office is formally investigating 30 major fuel retailers following consumer complaints of suspected price gouging since Gov. Mike Braun declared an energy emergency in April.

The energy emergency temporarily suspended Indiana’s 7% gasoline sales tax and, more recently, the 36-cents-a-gallon excise tax on gasoline through June 7.

But it also ordered the attorney general’s office to monitor price fluctuations at Hoosier gas stations to guarantee those savings are passed on to consumers.

Attorney General Todd Rokita told reporters Thursday his office has received more than 170 consumer complaints since Braun issued the order on April 8, though the pace of complaints has slowed in the past week.

Those complaints resulted in 30 formal price gouging investigations as well as informal inquiries into price fluctuations at another 100 Hoosier gas stations.

“We’re looking at each one of them,” Rokita said.

Fuel price portal shows cheapest gas; aids price gouging investigations

He cautioned the public to know that price gouging investigations are “pretty complex” and could extend well beyond the immediate emergency.

Investigators are issuing civil investigative demands inquiring about price fluctuations seven days before the April 8 executive order and thereafter — comparing retail prices to wholesale fuel prices at the time.

The agency created an internal dashboard to track prices at 4,600 gas stations across the state — now public so consumers can check prices and submit complaints.

“When INFuelWatch.com shows something way out of kilter, that’s not the end of the story, that’s the beginning of it,” Rokita said. “That causes me to ask further questions and say, ‘When did you buy the fuel load that caused that price to bump up?”

Stations found to be gouging consumers will be charged a fine per violation and ordered to relinquish profits from illegal price gouging, according to Davey Neal, deputy director of the Consumer Protection Division.

Neal said the agency is allowing stations to make business decisions like whether to offer cash discounts.

“What we’re looking at is where the margins between the retail price and the wholesale price are wildly out of control or an outlier based on a particular region in Indiana,” he said.