Road users are still paying too much for fuel
The CMA shows that fuel prices are far higher than they ought to be
Lucy England
No need to worry about fuel prices with this upgrade :)
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently published an updated report into the action it’s taking to make sure that consumers get the best prices for the goods they are using – in this instance it’s petrol prices in the spotlight.
The CMA has discovered that the price differential between what retailers are paying for fuel, and what they are charging us, is currently very high compared to historic levels!
For example supermarkets’ margins for fuel sales are around double what they were in 2019. Is this just profiteering at our expense?
The total cost to all drivers of excess fuel margins since 2019, according to the CMA report, was over £1.6bn. Competition is clearly not operating as it should and customers are suffering sky high fuel prices as a consequence.
The CMA recommended that a smart data driven fuel finder system, dispensed via sat nav and map apps, should be brought in to enable motorists and motorcyclists to access fuel price data across the UK to help them shop around. The new system would be monitored by the CMA, thus keeping the fuel sector under observation and held to account. The idea is that the data would be able to save riders and drivers around £4.50 each time they filled up, by giving them information about where to find the cheapest fuel.
While this sounds like a good idea on paper, it only works if retailers are honest and open and not operating a cartel system, so it seems from current fuel prices that they do need to be held to account and have an eye kept on them.
Currently there is a voluntary version of this data system in operation which fuel retailers are contributing to, but so far it only covers 40% of fuel retail sites and isn’t widespread enough to be included in map or sat nav data yet.
The new government has proposed a bill called the Digital Information and Smart Data Bill, which may offer a legislative basis for a compulsory scheme which could improve this situation for consumers. Until then the CMA is encouraging the government to bring in an enhanced interim voluntary version of this idea, so that road users can get the benefit of quick easy access to local fuel prices, through their everyday apps.
Have you felt as though you've been paying over the odds for fuel? Speaking of which have you noticed the difference between pumps if you are buying E5 - it seems even more random than E10.
EN
TH
UK