(1) These regulations may be cited as the Economic Stabilisation (Prices of Automotive Diesel Oil and Fuel Oil) Regulations 1975.

(2) These regulations shall come into force on the day after the date of their notification in the Gazette.

(1) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires,—

(2) For the purposes of these regulations, the price of automotive diesel oil or fuel oil shall be deemed to have been increased if there has been any variation in the nature, quality, or quantity of such goods or in the terms of sale of such goods, being a variation that is disadvantageous to the purchaser of the goods, without a corresponding reduction in price.

(3) For the purposes of these regulations, the publication or exhibition of a price list in respect of any automotive diesel oil or fuel oil, or the furnishing of a quotation for any such goods, or the exposure of any such goods with a specification or an indication of the price thereof attached thereto or displayed in the vicinity thereof or in connection therewith, shall be deemed to constitute the making of a charge for those goods.

Any powers and functions which the Minister may exercise under the Economic Stabilisation Act 1948 for the purposes of these regulations shall be exercised by the Minister of Energy.

(1) The maximum prices that may be charged for automotive diesel oil of a kind described in Part 1 and for fuel oil of any of the kinds described in Part 2 of the Schedule hereto shall be the appropriate prices specified in relation to such diesel oil or fuel oil and mode of sale in that Schedule:

Provided that the maximum price that may be charged for automotive diesel oil imported into and sold in the Chatham Islands shall be the appropriate maximum price specified in the Schedule hereto reduced by 0.33c per litre and increased by any county dues levied on such automotive diesel oil under the Chatham Islands County Council Empowering Act 1980.

(2) Where in any particular locality, at the commencement of these regulations, an additional charge was customarily included in the price of fuel oil of any of the kinds specified in Part 2 of the Schedule hereto by reason of the locality in which it was sold, the appropriate maximum price may be increased by such locality price differential normally being charged in relation to sales of that kind in that locality.

(3) Where the sum payable on any sales of automotive diesel oil or fuel oil if computed under the Schedule to these regulations would amount to a sum containing part of 1c, then the sum so payable may be increased above the maximum lawful price to the whole cent above that price if the part amounts to half a cent or more, but the maximum lawful price shall be reduced to the whole cent below if the part is less than half a cent.

It is hereby declared that the amount of goods and services tax has been taken into account in fixing the maximum prices set out in the Schedule to these regulations, and no amount shall be added to those prices pursuant to section 78(3) of the Goods and Services Tax Act 1985.

No person shall—

• (a) enter into any transaction, or make any contract or arrangement, purporting to do, whether presently or at some future time or upon the happening of any event or contingency, anything that contravenes or will contravene the provisions of these regulations; or

• (b) enter into any transaction, or make any contract or arrangement, whether orally or in writing, or do any thing, for the purpose of or having the effect of, in any way, whether directly or indirectly, defeating, evading, avoiding, or even preventing the operation of these regulations in any respect.

In any proceedings for an offence against these regulations in respect of the sale of any automotive diesel oil or fuel oil the production by or on behalf of the informant of a verified copy of any entry in any accounts or records kept by or on behalf of the defendant, or of any invoice, receipt, sales docket, or other document issued by or on behalf of the defendant, and purporting to disclose the price at which such goods have been sold, shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be sufficient evidence of the sale of the goods and of the price charged therefor.

Without limiting the provisions of section 18 of the Economic Stabilisation Act 1948, every person commits an offence who without lawful justification or excuse, acts in contravention of or fails to comply with any provision of or requirement under these regulations, and is liable accordingly on summary conviction to the penalties specified in subsection (3) of the said section 18, namely:

• (a) in the case of an individual, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months, or to a fine not exceeding $400 and (if the offence is a continuing one) to a further fine not exceeding $10 for every day during which the offence continues, or to both such imprisonment and such fines:

• (b) in the case of a company or other corporation, to a fine not exceeding $1,000 and (if the offence is a continuing one) to a further fine not exceeding $40 for every day during which the offence continues.