The SA Petroleum Retailers' Association has admitted that some service stations around the country have been charging motorists almost 10c extra for a litre of petrol, blaming the blunder on "miscommunication".
Peter Noke, the association's national director, said they were aware that a number of service stations around the country had been charging motorists an extra 7c a litre to fill their tanks.
"This has been brought to our attention and it is a national problem. There have been a number of service stations around the country that have been doing this," he said.
But Noke said the extra charges came about as a result of miscommunication.
"Overall there was a lot of confusion with the price increase last week, some didn't know for sure," he said on Wednesday night.
He told the Cape Argus the department of minerals and energy had changed the price of petrol at least "three times" and the decided amount had not been properly communicated to service stations.
"We can only blame this on miscommunication. And the only explanation I can give for this mishap is that those service stations weren't informed on the charges once they were decided.
"I don't think they are members of the association because we always keep our members informed about costs."
Noke said the extra 7c service stations charged for fuel should have been "rounded off".
"It's simple, instead of charging R10.47 a litre the 7c should have been rounded off to an asking price of R10.40.
"If the message was properly communicated this problem would not have surfaced. I also have to stress this problem has not only come about in Cape Town. It has happened all over the country."
He urged all motorists who had been overcharged to return to the responsible service station with proof for a refund.
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