The Commerce Commission has filed charges against fuel company BP, alleging it failed to pass on discounts that customers had earned and were entitled to at its company-owned BP Connect service stations.
The charges have been laid under the Fair Trading Act in the Auckland District Court. They follow an investigation the regulator opened in April 2025 after a run of complaints from motorists who said they were not getting the savings they expected. Customers told the commission they had bought petrol or diesel at a number of BP Connect sites and scanned their loyalty card, only to find the advertised discount had not come off the price they paid at the pump.
The case turns on a distinction that matters for any driver who thinks they may have been short-changed. The allegations relate only to BP Connect stations, which BP owns and operates directly. They do not cover BP 2go outlets, which are run by independent operators under the BP brand. A discount that went missing at an independently run site is not part of this case.
What makes the timing awkward for the company is that the commission says it found further pricing errors while the investigation was still under way, during a stretch when pump prices were already high. Commerce Commission deputy chair Anne Callinan said the regulator expected more from a business of BP’s size. “We expect big businesses to take the time and effort to get pricing and promotions right,” she said. The more recent error was “concerning, not only because it raises questions about the effectiveness of the company’s changes, but also as it was within the current period of higher fuel prices.”
BP has not contested that the issues occurred. The company described the charges as relating to “historical pricing accuracy matters” and said it had “cooperated with the commission throughout its investigation”, adding that it had made changes and investments in its systems in response. As the matter is now before the court, the allegations are yet to be tested and BP is entitled to put its case.
The penalties for getting this wrong are not trivial. Companies convicted under the Fair Trading Act can be fined up to 600,000 dollars for each offence, so a pattern of incorrect pricing across multiple sites can add up quickly if the charges are proven. The Act is the main law that stops businesses from misleading shoppers about price, and a promised discount that does not appear sits squarely within it.
For households, the case lands at a sensitive moment. Fuel is one of the few weekly costs that families watch in real time, and loyalty discounts of a few cents a litre are exactly the kind of saving people rely on when budgets are tight. Scanning a card at the counter is supposed to be a guaranteed return, not a gamble, and the commission’s argument is that a large company carries the responsibility to make sure the till does what the advertising promises.
The charges come as the regulator steps up its wider watch on the fuel sector. The commission has said it is moving to more frequent monitoring of pump prices, comparing what retailers charge against movements in international wholesale costs and publicly calling out increases it cannot justify. Commissioner Bryan Chapple said the regulator would not be shy about naming names. “Public scrutiny is a powerful tool and we will use it,” he said, as the commission warned fuel firms not to use volatility tied to the Middle East as cover for widening their margins.
That backdrop matters because global wholesale prices have been rising and swinging around more than usual, which makes it harder for ordinary drivers to tell a fair price rise from an unfair one. The commission has pointed motorists towards price comparison tools such as the Gaspy app and reminded retailers that while fuel surcharges are legal, any claim about why a price has gone up has to be honest and able to be backed up.
The squeeze on motorists is part of a broader picture of cautious household spending. With cost-of-living pressure still biting and the labour market soft, New Zealanders are watching every dollar, and discretionary spending has been the first thing to go. Hospitality closures have climbed as families eat out less, and the same caution shows up at the petrol station, where a missed loyalty discount is felt more sharply than it would be in better times. Trust in the price on the board is part of what keeps that market working.
The case will now make its way through the Auckland District Court. For drivers, the practical takeaway is simple enough. Check your receipt, keep an eye on whether the discount you scanned for actually came off, and use the comparison apps before you fill up. For BP, a brand that fronts hundreds of forecourts around the country, the bigger cost may be the reminder that getting the small numbers right at the pump is what earns the trust behind the brand.
Have you ever scanned your card at the pump and found the discount did not come off? Tell us about it in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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