‘Old habits die hard’: Drivers still feeling the pain from jacked up supermarket fuel margins — watchdog
Drivers are still facing higher prices at the pumps due to increasing fuel margins at a number of supermarkets and retailers, the UK’s competition regulator has found.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)’s first quarterly report into pump practices found that autumn increases in retail fuel spreads were a “cause for concern.”
“While it is too early to draw definitive conclusions, this could indicate a lack of competitive response from fuel retailers if this trend continues,” the watchdog added.
The report noted “significant increases” in retail spread for both petrol and diesel, with the end of October “significantly higher than the long-term average of 5-10ppl.”
Since May, pump prices have increased by 11.1 and 13.9 pence per litre for petrol and diesel respectively.
The rise over summer was primarily driven by global factors such as increasing crude oil prices. But the CMA said that while wholesale prices then reduced in September and October, retail prices did not.
Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA, said: “Drivers are feeling the pain again as petrol prices at the pump have been on the rise since June.”
“The underlying data shows a mixed picture in terms of what is driving this. Over the summer we saw rising wholesale costs, but more recent trends give cause for concern that competition is still not working well in this market to hold down pump prices.”
The inquiry prompted significant political backlash and the government has committed to putting in place a monitoring body to report on the state of the road fuel market.
The regulator received responses from Applegreen, Asda, Bp, Esso, Euro Garages, Morrisons, Motor Fuel Group, Rontec, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Welcome Break, Shell and Moto-Way did not provide information.
“This is a market where competition is not working as well as it should. But while today’s first monitoring report is an important step, it is based on voluntary information and is missing some major fuel retailers,” Cardell said.
Responding to the findings, Luke Bosdet, the AA’s spokesman on pump prices, said: “Old habits die hard in the road fuel trade.”
“Failure to pass on the full savings from lower wholesale costs to hard-pressed motorists, their families and businesses is unacceptable in a cost of living crisis.”
Retail trade body the British Retail Consortium (BRC) was approached for comment.