Constitutional Court Puts The Brakes On This
Month's Gasoline Price Hike
We can all breathe a little easier this
month, thanks to the justices of the Sala IV
or Constitutional Court that put the brakes
on the approved hike in the price of super
gasoline that was to have taken effect next
week.
Last month the Autoridad Reguladora de los
Servicios Públicos (Aresep) approved a hike
in gaoline prices. However, the former
regulador general, Leonel Fonseca, filed an
appeal with the court to stop the increase
arguing the Aresep violated the rights of
consumers.
Fonseca said in his filing that due to the
closing of the Aresep offices during the
Christmas holidays, the public did not have
adequate opportunity to file complaints or
their opinions on the increase.
The Sala IV, on receiving the filing by
Fonseca, ordered the increase squashed while
it considers the appeal. The court ordered
that the current regulador, Fernando
Herrera, not sign the price increase notice
as requested by the Refinadora Costarricense
de Petróleo (Recope), the state refinery.
Although there will not be an increase in
gasoline prices this month, the Aresep said
that next month's price increase will be
more than usual, to make up for the squashed
increase of January.
The Arespe said that it will be reviewing a
price increase of ¢37 colones for a litre of
super, ¢24 for regular and ¢22 for diesel,
that when approved, will take effect by the
middle of February.
If approved, gasoline prices next month will
jump from the current ¢588 to ¢625 for a
litre of super; from ¢573 to ¢597 for
regular; and, from ¢511 to ¢533 for diesel.
Fonseca did not hide his joy on learning the
decision of the magistrates on their
decision to accept the appeal and was
adamant in his statement to the press that
he feels the Aresep should hold off any
increases until the court rules on his
appeal.
"The current mechanism, in addition that it
is illegal, is inconvenient and
extemporaneous because the regulador ordered
a thorough review of the finances of Recope
because in December 2008 it had a profit of
¢80 billion colones and in December 2009 it
had a deficit of ¢17 billion colones", said
Fonseca, who questioned if the state
refinery took into account the 2008 surplus
or not.
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