- Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to be granted new
powers to monitor the road fuel market
- Road fuel businesses will have to be transparent on pricing
or face a penalty
- Next step in government action to protect UK motorists from
rip-off fuel prices UK motorists will be protected at the pumps,
under tough new powers that will shine a light on any attempt
from retailers to unfairly hike up fuel prices.
UK motorists will be protected at the pumps under tough new
powers that will shine a light on any attempt from retailers to
unfairly hike up fuel prices.
Under new amendments tabled today (15 November) to the Digital
Markets, Competition & Consumers Bill, the CMA will become the
body responsible for closely monitoring road fuel prices and
reporting any sign of malpractice to the government. The move
aims to help improve competition in the market, making sure
customers across the country are given a fair choice of prices
when they buy fuel.
Fuel retailers, including supermarkets, will be forced to come
clean on how much they are charging customers on their forecourts
versus their profits. Those that fail to comply could face a
fixed fine from the watchdog of up to 1% of their worldwide
turnover, or an ongoing fine of up to 5% of daily turnover.
Energy Security Secretary, , has today cautioned
retailers that she will not hesitate to hold them to account, if
there is any evidence of unfairly hiking up prices and holding
back savings from UK motorists.
The warning follows a report from the CMA earlier this year
that revealed some supermarkets had failed to pass on savings in
oil prices - charging drivers 6p more per litre for fuel, which
amounted to £900 million in extra costs in 2022 alone. It forms
the latest step in the government’s drive to halve inflation and
reduce costs for families across the country.
Energy Security Secretary said:
At a time when many were struggling with increased living costs,
we saw shocking behaviour from some fuel retailers who failed to
pass on savings at the pump.
Now we are cracking down on any petrol station bosses found to be
unfairly hiking up their prices.
That’s why we’re giving the CMA new powers to
bring fairness back to the forecourts and make sure UK drivers
get a competitive fuel price.
Work is already underway from the CMA to step up their
oversight of the fuel market. Last week, the watchdog published
their first road fuel monitoring report - which found that there
may be some early signs the road fuel market is not working as it
should be, but it is too early to confirm.
Although many retailers have voluntarily increased transparency
of their costs and returns, the CMA also revealed that
Shell and Moto-way had failed to meet their information requests,
despite calls from the Energy Security Secretary to do so.
On top of this, twelve of the biggest retailers, including all
four fuel-selling supermarkets, have already signed up to the
CMA’s
voluntary scheme to share daily price data – allowing news
outlets and websites to create price comparison tools for
customers to easily compare costs.
The government is progressing plans to make this legal
requirement for fuel retailers to share daily price information
that will help customers to easily shop around for deals. A
consultation on the design of government’s open data scheme is
due to launch this autumn.
Minister for Energy Consumer and Affordability said:
Today marks an important step in our commitment to stand by UK
drivers as we continue to keep costs down for families.
I’m pleased to see many retailers cooperate with the CMA so far, to share
their price information and bring competition back to our petrol
stations.
I now urge comparison sites and others to get onboard to help UK
motorists find the best local price for their fuel.
The CMA
will receive its new information gathering powers through
amendments tabled today to the Digital Markets, Competition and
Consumer Bill - which is expected to come into force later next
year.
The watchdog will use the information gathered from retailers to
provide regular public updates on the state of competition in the
UK fuel market, as well as report any evidence of unjustified
price increases so the government can hold retailers to account.
Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA, said:
We welcome this new responsibility and will use it to hold fuel
retailers to account. The CMA is determined to
revitalise competition in this sector so drivers can be confident
they are getting the best price possible when they fill up their
vehicles.
Notes to editors
More information on the 12
fuel retailers to who have signed up to share their daily pricing
information, as part of the CMA’s voluntary data
scheme.
Additional amendments to the Digital Markets, Competition and
Consumers Bill have been made by the Department for Science,
Innovation and Technology. Details can be found at: Changes to Digital Markets
Bill introduced to ensure fairer competition in tech
industry.
