We’ve Been Paying Too Much For Fuel, The Government Says, As It Plans To Force Price Transparency

Buying fuel has become an increasingly painful experience for the wallet, but while it’s the wholesale cost driving a lot of this, the retailers haven’t been helping. According to a new report from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), margins at supermarket petrol stations went up by 6p per litre by 2019-2022.

The CMA noted that there can be “significant price differences in local areas,” and it “reached the conclusion that competition is not working well”. Its suggestion is that better data transparency is needed, which would make it easier for third parties, for instance, a service like Google Maps, to publish live fuel pricing. With that information much more visible and accessible, retailers would - in theory - have little choice but to be more competitive with how much they charge.

Getting ripped off at the pumps is something that irks millions of voters, so it should come as no surprise that the government has jumped on this report, pledging to use the law to force retailers to be more open with pricing data.

“Some fuel retailers have been using motorists as cash cows – they jacked up their prices when fuel costs rocketed but failed to pass on savings now costs have fallen,” said energy secretary Grant Shapps.

The CMA’s report also noted that motorway service stations charge roughly 20p per litre more for petrol and 15p more per litre of diesel, which most of us probably knew anyway. The CMA also noted that it had to slap Asda with two fines totalling £60,000 for “failing to provide relevant information in a timely manner.”

On that subject, it partially blamed Asda’s practising of price ‘feathering’ (in other words, deliberately slowing pump price reductions as wholesale prices went down) for the sluggish drop in the price of diesel this year. Rivals failed to respond competitively, and diesel drivers ended up forking out about 13p per litre more from January to 2023 compared to previous margins.

Now read: The Places In The World Where You Can’t Pump Fuel Yourself