The UK’s competition watchdog has proposed the launch of a fuel price monitor after it found that drivers were paying more for petrol and diesel than before the Covid pandemic because of “weakened” competition between retailers.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said on Monday that “due to a decision by the traditional price leaders to compete less hard”, prices had risen since 2019.
In May, the CMA said it had found evidence that retailers were putting up petrol and diesel prices to unnecessarily high levels and that it would speak to supermarkets, which have traditionally offered the lowest prices.
In concluding a study into the road fuel market, the CMA said consumers were paying “generally higher prices” than four years ago and noted that “competition has been significantly weaker on diesel than on petrol”.
The remarks came at the end of a year-long investigation as the watchdog studied margins in the fuel market, as prices soared to record levels last year when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upended commodity markets.
The CMA said consumers in different areas were paying “significantly” more for fuel than others, and that customers without access to fuel cards paid far more to buy fuel on the motorway than off it.
To address these issues, the watchdog suggested the launch of an “open-data fuel-finder scheme” and a separate fuel monitor function.
after newsletter promotion
“If taken forward, these two measures will work in a mutually reinforcing way to increase incentives on retailers to price more competitively on fuel,” it said.