MP says prime minister misrepresented history of fixed-amount charges

Independence Party MP Hildur Sverrisdóttir accused Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir of making a false claim about fixed-amount charges in an interview published earlier on Friday, according to mbl.is.

Frostadóttir said it was not automatic to stop increasing charges by fixed amounts, as such charges had historically been adjusted in line with the previous year’s price level. She added that changing the practice was possible, but would carry a cost and require an active decision.

Sverrisdóttir said the prime minister’s account was incorrect. Over roughly the past decade, she said, it had been more common not to base fixed-amount increases on the previous year’s price level, but instead to use the inflation target.

As an example, Sverrisdóttir cited a 2023 departure from the inflation target. Jóhann Páll Jóhannsson, then an MP and now the minister for environment, energy and climate, criticised fixed-amount increases in a minority opinion and noted that using the inflation target was more common, she said.

Sverrisdóttir questioned whether the issue had been discussed within the government, given the apparent difference between the ministers’ statements. She also said she was surprised by the prime minister’s remarks and suggested they presented a misleading picture of how unusual it would be to change the practice.