Urgent call to end ‘predatory pricing’ at pumps
A MAJOR review of the fuel industry is to be carried out to ensure motorists are not ripped off by predatory pricing.
As prices continue to soar at the pump, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has asked the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) to conduct an “urgent” investigation amid concerns the 5p cut in duty has not been passed on to customers.
And the Government has said it is alarmed by “wild fluctuations” in the prices at petrol stations a short distance apart.
The average cost of filling up a car hit £100 last week, and yesterday, petrol cost on average 183.16p per litre and diesel 188.82p per litre.
In a letter to the CMA, Mr Kwarteng describes the scale of public anxiety.
“[There] remains widespread concern about the pace of the increase in prices at the forecourt and that prices may not fall as much or as fast as they rise,” he said.
“The British people are rightly frustrated that the £5billion package does not always appear to have been passed through to forecourt prices and that in some towns, prices remain higher than in nearby towns.”
The CMA will investigate competition in the market and the Government is pushing for greater transparency about prices.
An initial report into its findings is expected early next month.
A Whitehall source said: “We’re trying to keep as much of people’s hard-earned money in their back pocket as possible, but it’s frustrating that our £5billion fuel tax cut doesn’t seem to have been passed on everywhere – with prices always quick to go up but slow to come down.
“No one understands why the price for their fuel can be as much as 10p a litre dearer a village over.we want drivers to be
completely certain that the fuel retailers aren’t profiteering at their expense.”
The call comes as Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, warned that drivers and businesses were “being stretched to financial breaking point”.
He said it was “high time for the CMA to shed some light on an industry whose finances are, to most of us, about as transparent as a barrel of crude”.
Mr Gooding also pressed for the Government to do more to push down prices, adding that “almost half of what we fork out on the forecourt goes straight into the Chancellor’s coffers”.
Former Conservative minister Robert Halfon is in no doubt that motorists are being “ripped off”, adding: “These prices are crushing people up and down the country. They are crushing families who can’t even afford to take their kids to school; they are crushing van drivers who can’t afford to earn a living; they are crushing haulier companies; they are crushing
NHS workers who can’t afford to go to work.” Mr Halfon added that high fuel prices were pushing up costs for the NHS and the police and he wants to see another cut to fuel duty or TOVAT.
His concerns were echoed by Saqib Bhatti, the Conservative MP for Meriden in the West Midlands.
“Many of my constituents have no choice but to drive and the Government is doing everything it can to help motorists deal with high fuel prices, including the fuel duty cut,” he said. “It is deeply unjust for retailers to pocket that money instead of passing the benefit on to drivers.”
Howard Cox, the founder of the Fairfueluk campaign, has pushed for a CMA inquiry alongside a 20p per litre cut to duty and the introduction of a fuel
prices watchdog, Pumpwatch. “I think petrol could hit 190-195p and diesel something like 210p within the month,” he said.
Mr Cox also claimed retailers were being “ripped off” higher up the supply chain.
“I know several garages that are going to go bust at the moment because they are making a loss on petrol and diesel,” he said.
And warning of the impact on everyday life, Mr Cox added: “It’s crippling. We’re seeing care workers who can’t get to work and can’t see their clients.
“I’m hearing some people who have to have chemotherapy can’t even get to hospital appointments because they can’t afford to fill up their tanks to get there. Hauliers are suffering beyond belief. I think there are a lot of businesses that are totally unviable.”
Mr Cox also called on Britain to follow the example of the German government, which in March cut the
tax on fuel by 30 cents
‘Prices quick to go up, slow to come down’
for petrol and 14 cents for diesel. Here, the Government argues the 5p cut is the “biggest ever cut to fuel duty”.
Ben Everitt, a Conservative member of the levelling up committee, said: “The war in Ukraine has obviously had a huge impact on pump prices, but we need to make sure that companies aren’t taking advantage of that and ripping customers off. Rural communities rely on cars for work, commutes, the school run and everyday life.”
Mr Everitt added: “At nearly two quid a litre, many folk are worried it’s becoming impossible to run a car. We need to make sure consumers are protected.”
The move to investigate the fuel industry comes as evidence grows of strong public concern about the economy and the risk of a recession. Polling by Ipsos found 51 per cent of women and 40 per cent of men “are finding it harder to stay positive about the future”. Nearly eight out of 10 are concerned about a recession.
Keiran Pedley, director of politics at Ipsos, said: “Given the cost-of-living crisis, the war in Ukraine and a new virus in the news, it comes as no surprise that many Britons are finding it harder to stay positive, both day-to-day and for the future.”
Meanwhile, an exclusive poll by Techne for the Express shows major public support for action to cut the cost of living. When asked what Boris Johnson had to do to “restore faith in him as Prime Minister”, 36 per cent said reduce energy bills; 32 per cent wanted him to cut taxes; and 12 per cent said “do more to get the benefits of Brexit”.
‘Need to make sure consumers protected’