Fuel tax cuts expire with no replacement decree
The fixed fuel discount that had kept pump prices lower since September has now ended. At midnight on 5 October, the tax reduction of 6.1 cents per litre on diesel expired, and the Italian government failed to publish the interministerial decree needed to activate the new "mobile excise" mechanism in its place.
For the first time since March, no fiscal relief applies at petrol stations across Italy. The result is immediate: diesel prices rise by the full amount of the expired cut. For a standard 50-litre tank, drivers now pay roughly €3 more.
What happened to the mobile excise system
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had announced that a self-financing mechanism would take over from state-funded discounts. Under this system, the Treasury would use extra VAT revenue from higher oil prices to reduce excise duties, creating an automatic buffer without adding to the deficit.
But the system requires a joint decree from the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security to specify which fuels are covered, the discount amount and the duration. No decree appeared in the Official Gazette, leaving the mechanism dormant when the old discount expired.
The government had decided to abandon broad-based fuel subsidies, arguing that generalised cuts benefit wealthier drivers who consume more. Instead, it pledged targeted measures for low-income households and road hauliers. No political agreement on those targeted measures has been reached.
Current prices at the pump
Despite the tax increase, average prices have eased slightly due to voluntary price caps introduced by major fuel retailers. According to Ministry of Environment and Energy Security data:
• Petrol: €2.049 per litre in self-service mode on 6 October (down from €2.052 the previous day)
• Diesel: €2.242 per litre on 5 October, now subject to full excise duties
These figures represent a decline from late September peaks, when petrol reached €2.159 per litre and diesel €2.377 per litre.
Major oil companies impose price caps
Several large fuel companies have introduced voluntary price ceilings to contain costs:
• Eni announced caps of €1.99 per litre for petrol and €2.19 for diesel from 28 September
• IP (controlled by Azerbaijan's Socar) followed with a 30-day cap from 27 September
• Q8 and Tamoil announced similar measures shortly after
By 3 October, about 10,400 stations had adopted the price caps, roughly half of Italy's 20,140 petrol stations. Only 51.7% of stations charged below €2 per litre for petrol, and 52.2% below €2.20 for diesel.
Small operators raise competition concerns
Independent petrol station operators, known in Italy as pompe bianche, have accused the major groups of unfair competition. The trade associations Fegica and Faib-Confesercenti have asked the Senate to consider a public price regulator, arguing that privately set caps distort the market.
Figisc, the Italian Federation of Road Fuel Station Operators, called Eni's initiative a form of dumping that disrupts market equilibrium. Small operators say they cannot match prices set by vertically integrated majors without selling at a loss.
What comes next
Ministers Gilberto Pichetto Fratin (Environment and Energy Security) and Adolfo Urso (Enterprises and Made in Italy) have convened a meeting with refining companies for Thursday 8 October. They aim to assess whether production can be increased to bring down pump prices.
Road hauliers have already benefited from an extended tax credit covering fuel costs through July 2026, with mentions of a further extension to September. For ordinary consumers, however, the end of the discount marks a return to full taxation until the mobile excise decree arrives — or until targeted relief measures are agreed.
The government maintains that spending public funds on across-the-board cuts is no longer sustainable. The mobile excise system, once activated, would provide smaller discounts than state-funded measures, but would spare the budget. Until then, drivers face the full price impact.
