Petrol giant accused of pumping cheap fuel at premium prices
By Google News Investigations ·
WA’s cheapest petrol retailer has been stinging Perth motorists premium 95 and 98 petrol prices while pumping cheaper unleaded 91 petrol into their cars, according to the state watchdog. Burk Fuel is accused of shorting motorists on fuel grade by Consumer Protection following an investigation between July 2025 and February 2026.
The state watchdog on Monday announced it had commenced civil proceedings in the Supreme Court of WA over the allegations against Burk Fuel Pty Ltd and Burk Pty Ltd. Consumer Protection commissioner Trisha Blake alleged that motorists were being misled by the retailer at several sites.
“When motorists choose to pay more for premium fuel, they should be able to rely on the information provided by the retailer and have confidence they are receiving the product they purchased,” she said. “We allege Burk Fuel represented certain fuels as Premium 95 and Premium 98 when testing indicated these products were consistent with regular unleaded 91 ULP.
“Consumers are entitled to rely on representations made about products they purchase, including information displayed at bowsers.
“Businesses must not make false or misleading representations about the goods they sell, and we will take action where we believe conduct may contravene the Australian Consumer Law.” Independent testing by the watchdog between late 2025 and early 2026 of the premium options found results consistent with regular unleaded 91.
Documentary and electronic evidence was gathered following crackdowns of metro and regional stations, according to Consumer Protection. Earlier this year the company denied allegations and said it was targeted unfairly over its cheaper fuel.
Originally published by Google News Investigations
