Petrol station owners want thieves to lose their licences

Samantha Landy
September 24, 2013
Herald Sun

Petrol station operators say fuel thieves should have their licences suspended. Source: News Limited

PETROL thieves should be stripped of their driver’s licences or lose demerit points, service station owners claim.

Victorian petrol retailers are calling for a tough stance to discourage fuel bandits, which are reportedly costing servo owners up to $40 million nationwide each year.

The Australian Association of Convenience Stores has been lobbying the State Government and police to take more serious action on fuel thefts in the wake of changes to the way intentional drive-offs are investigated in Victoria.

As of July 1, Victoria Police will not investigate drive-offs unless there is clear evidence of a criminal offence, such as a stolen car or stolen number plates being used.

Director of service station chain APCO Peter Anderson said his 18 Victorian franchises had seen an increase in fuel thefts since this “ridiculous” change.

“I can’t understand how Victoria Police can do this. Fuel theft is a crime,” he said.

Mr Anderson said culprits should be hit with on-the-spot fines and docked six demerit points, which they would be able to get back once they had paid their debt to the service station.

“Let’s not mess around — we’re taking about hurting small businesses here,” he said.

AACS chief executive Jeff Rogut said petrol theft was costing some servo owners “thousands of dollars each month”.

The yearly damage to Australian petrol retailers was close to $40 million, according to figures taken from AACS members’ monthly losses.

Mr Rogut said those convicted of stealing fuel should have their licence suspended, a punishment which had dramatically reduced the crime in parts of the US.

He said police also needed to foster closer partnerships with servo owners, many of whom had number plate recognition systems and CCTV that could help catch culprits.

Operational Support Superintendent Kevin Sheridan said police investigated about 5000 petrol drive-offs a year, taking up almost 18,000 hours of police time.

“We need to put our resources where they are most needed and reduce the amount of time police members spend working on petrol drive-offs, especially when a large number should be treated as civil matters,” he said.

Superintendent Sheridan said service station owners should consider installing prepaid or pay-at-the-pump technology to minimise drive-offs, an initiative backed by the State Government.

But Mr Anderson said such a system would punish innocent customers by making it more difficult for them to settle payments.

Mr Rogut said prepaid systems could also cut into service station owners’ revenue.

“They rely on people coming into the store to buy a drink or snack,” he said.

Mr Rogut said surges in petrol thefts were linked to rising fuel prices.
samantha.landy@news.com.au