{"id":121360,"date":"2023-11-15T17:49:58","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T17:49:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cottontailsonline.com\/?p=121360"},"modified":"2023-11-15T17:49:58","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T17:49:58","slug":"watchdog-to-bite-back-at-uks-rip-off-fuel-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cottontailsonline.com\/auto-news\/watchdog-to-bite-back-at-uks-rip-off-fuel-prices\/","title":{"rendered":"Watchdog to bite back at UK\u2019s rip-off fuel prices"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Competitions and Markets Authority gets powers to shine the spotlight on profiteering fuel station operators<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/media.autoexpress.co.uk\/image\/private\/s--RXMKV5QQ--\/f_auto,t_author-mobile@1\/v1649247551\/autoexpress\/2022\/04\/Chris%20Rosamond.jpg\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/media.autoexpress.co.uk\/image\/private\/s--u8_cAwm2--\/f_auto,t_primary-image-mobile@1\/v1646917487\/autoexpress\/2022\/03\/Fuel%20prices%20-3.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Mike Rutherford<\/p>\n<p>The UK\u2019s consumer watchdog will get new powers to demand price and profit information from road fuel retailers, that will put the spotlight on future attempts to hike prices unfairly.<\/p>\n<p>The powers have been granted to the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) by the government\u2019s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and should become law later next year. Amendments were tabled to the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill in parliament on 15 November 2023, that will force petrol and diesel retailers, including supermarkets, to share information with the CMA on how much they are charging customers for fuel, versus their profit.<\/p>\n<p>The change to the law is designed to help improve competition in the market and \u201cwill shine a light on any attempt from retailers to unfairly hike up fuel prices\u201d, the government says.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/media.autoexpress.co.uk\/image\/private\/s--dSlabuiZ--\/f_auto,t_related-embed-mobile@1\/v1654877941\/buyacar\/fuel-station-1.jpg\">Forecourt fuel theft surges by 77 per cent, latest figures suggest<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Under the new amendment, the CMA will become the body responsible for monitoring petrol and diesel prices, and reporting any sign of malpractice. The appointment of a fuel price monitor was one of the recommendations the CMA itself made following its high-profile year-long investigation into filling station prices that ended in the summer, and it volunteered itself for the role.<\/p>\n<p>According to a government statement, any fuel retailer that refuses to come clean on their fuel prices and margins once the amendments become law, could face a fixed fine of up one per cent of global turnover, or an ongoing fine of up to five per cent of daily turnover.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The CMA has already begun working on its new remit, and last week published its first road fuel report as \u2018unofficial\u2019 monitor, when it raised new concerns that the UK fuel market is not working as it should.<\/p>\n<p>Looking at the period from the end of May 2023 to October 2023, this first CMA monitoring report shows that prices rose during June, July and August, driven by an increase in global oil prices. However, \u201cwholesale prices then reduced in September and October while retail prices did not,\u201d the CMA said. \u201cWhile it is too early to draw definitive conclusions, this could indicate a lack of competitive response from fuel retailers if this trend continues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/media.autoexpress.co.uk\/image\/private\/s--E26KtEmY--\/f_auto,t_content-image-mobile@1\/v1646917485\/autoexpress\/2022\/03\/Fuel%20prices%20-2.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>On retailer margins, the CMA says on average they fell around 4.5 pence per litre from an average of 11.9ppl to 7.3ppl between the start of the year to August 2023. \u201cNonetheless, August margins remain higher than those for any year prior to 2021,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah Cardell is chief executive of the CMA, and she reckons the latest data paints a mixed picture for motorists.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDrivers are feeling the pain again as petrol prices at the pump have been on the rise since June,\u201d she says. \u201cOver 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cardell describes this first report from the CMA as an important step, but said that while many filling station operators had provided information voluntarily pending a change in the law, major retailers Shell and Moto-Way had declined to respond to its request for data. \u201cThat\u2019s why it is so important that a permanent fuel monitor \u2013 with powers to demand information from all retailers \u2013 is put in place to give a fuller picture of how the market is working,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/media.autoexpress.co.uk\/image\/private\/s--xYk1EBO_--\/f_auto,t_related-embed-mobile@1\/v1562241074\/autoexpress\/1\/35\/b28tgk_0.jpg\">Potholes? Fuel prices? Other people? Here&#x27;s what makes UK motorists see red on the road<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: \u201cWe welcome the CMA being given new powers to take action against retailers that don\u2019t pass on the savings they benefit from when wholesale fuel costs fall significantly. Due to our long-term monitoring of retail and wholesale prices, we have been calling for fairer, more transparent pricing for years.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/media.autoexpress.co.uk\/image\/private\/s--2ndlamRb--\/v1683626472\/assets\/partners\/powered-by-motorway_150x70.png\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/pubads.g.doubleclick.net\/gampad\/ad?iu=\/359\/impcount.co.uk&amp;sz=1x1&amp;t=creative%3DAEXMotorwayWidgetApril2022&amp;c=%%CACHEBUSTER%%\" style=\"display:none\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile the CMA\u2019s report concluded the supermarkets had overcharged to the tune of \u00a3900m last year, our data shows this behaviour is continuing to this day with supermarket fuel margins more than double what they were before the pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese new powers can\u2019t come soon enough because, as it stands, the Treasury\u2019s 5p-a-litre fuel duty discount is not making it to drivers at the pumps.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>How expensive is fuel in your area? Tell us in the comments section below&#8230;<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autoexpress.co.uk\/consumer-news\/361512\/watchdog-bite-back-uks-rip-fuel-prices\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Competitions and Markets Authority gets powers to shine the spotlight on profiteering fuel station operators Mike Rutherford The UK\u2019s consumer watchdog will get new powers to demand price and profit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Watchdog to bite back at UK\u2019s rip-off fuel prices - cottontailsonline.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cottontailsonline.com\/auto-news\/watchdog-to-bite-back-at-uks-rip-off-fuel-prices\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Watchdog to bite back at UK\u2019s rip-off fuel prices - 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