WIESBADEN, Germany — Starting later this month, customers at Army and Air Force Exchange Service gas pumps in Germany will no longer be required to show their car registration or fuel card before filling up.
Under the new system, customers who exceed their monthly rations or have an invalid or expired fuel ration card will simply be charged what an off-base German gas station charges, instead of the nontaxed AAFES price, according to a news release.
The price for a gallon of super unleaded gas at a German station can cost up to twice as much as that sold on base.
The AAFES "self-enforcement policy" will begin Monday with a pilot program at Wiesbaden’s Hainerberg shopping center gas station and March 10 at the Mainz-Kastel gas station before the change is implemented countrywide on March 22.
Ration policy violators won’t be referred to law enforcement officials, AAFES said.
"Previously, if you were a soldier, we sent a report over to the PMO (provost marshal office), and you were subject to UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) action," said AAFES spokesman Lt. Col. Wayne Marotto. Civilian violators were handled through civilian channels.
Customers can request additional fuel rations by submitting AE Form 600-17A through their chain of command to U.S. Army Europe headquarters.
Marotto said that AAFES will not make more money from the new policy and the extra prices paid by violators will be returned to the German government.
