Every fourth gas station in Attica lacks fuel: driver losses are estimated at €400 million

Greek consumers lose about €400 million annually due to irregularities in the fuel market, mainly due to underfilling at gas stations. This conclusion was reached by specialists from the Laboratory of Fuel and Lubricant Technologies of the National Technical University of Athens, who presented a new study commissioned by the Association of Oil Trading Companies of Greece – SEEPE.

Formally, the fight against violators yielded results: after the legislation was tightened and the 92 gas stations the number of cases of underfilling has decreased. But it is still difficult to call the situation normal. In Attica, insufficient fuel delivery continues to be detected at approximately every fourth gas station.

The study was based on 200 secret refills with AI-95 gasoline: 130 were carried out in Attica and 70 in Thessaloniki. In Attica, the share of underfilled gas stations decreased from 33.1% in 2025 to 23.1% in 2026. That is, almost 10 percentage points better, but still far from what should generally be considered acceptable in a European country.

The maximum recorded deviation in Attica was 14.99%. In other words, the driver could pay for a nominal 40 liters, but get about six liters less. Fuel arithmetic, where for some reason the pump always turns out to be more talented than the buyer.

In Thessaloniki, the improvement was more modest: the share of insufficient issues dropped from 20% to 18.6%. At the same time, the maximum deviation increased to approximately 14%.

€400 million is not just a figure for presentation

SEEPE President Yiannis Aligiazakis clarified that the estimate of €400 million refers specifically to damage to drivers from underfilling, and not budget losses from smuggling or tax evasion. The calculation is based on an average annual mileage of about 30 thousand kilometers and an average fuel price of approximately €1.90 per liter.

The problem is that underfilling at the pump is gradually replacing the old scheme of fuel smuggling. Where once fraud was associated with tanks, fictitious documents and industrial scale, now part of the damage is transferred directly to the driver, who sees one number on the display and receives another in the tank.

There is control, but there is still little transparency

SEEPE demands to strengthen inspections and change legislation so that the tax service AADE could report which oil trading companies cooperate with violating gas stations. Currently, such information cannot be disclosed without changes in the law.

This is an important detail. The closure of 92 stations shows that the state is capable of responding. But while the driver is not given a simple and understandable mechanism to check the quality and volume of fuel, the system remains convenient primarily for those who know how to use its loopholes.

Editorial comment

Underfilling of fuel is not a “minor trick” or the everyday arrogance of individual tankers. This is a massive scam that has been affecting millions of drivers for years. When almost every fourth gas station inspected in Attica dispenses less than the paid volume, we are no longer talking about random violations, but about a market in which some players are accustomed to making money on something that the client physically cannot check on the spot.

The good news is that the closures and inspections have actually reduced the extent of the problem. The bad thing is that after all the raids, fines and loud statements, the level of violations remains as if the country had just begun to notice that the gasoline in the tank sometimes disappears faster than the money on the card.

For the driver, everything is extremely simple: he is not obliged to become a metrologist, buy measuring canisters and investigate the operation of each column. He pays for liters and must receive liters. Everything else is a failure of control, which for too long they tried to pass off as market features.

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