Crackdown on the petrol profiteers
Watchdog launches probe as cost of filling up races past £100
THE competition watchdog has launched an urgent review into rocketing petrol and diesel prices amid early evidence some forecourts are profiteering.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng wrote to the Competition and Markets Authority over the weekend calling for a probe into soaring prices after the average cost of filling a family car surged past £100.
He wants the CMA to consider naming and shaming profiteering retailers, including those who have not passed on the 5p a litre fuel duty cut announced by the Government in March.
CMA boss Andrea Coscelli yesterday confirmed the watchdog has launched a review and will hand over some initial findings early next month, including some potential recommendations.
A Whitehall source said that preliminary work by the CMA had found cases of some retailers padding their profits in the wake of the fuel duty cut.
The source said: ‘The CMA are monitoring their data and they are finding instances of some, mostly smaller, retailers now making eight or nine pence a litre on fuel, compared to the 2-3p norm. Global oil prices are high and it looks like most retailers are passing on the duty cut – some are selling fuel at a loss.
‘But it does look like some retailers are potentially profiteering and that has to stop.’
In his letter to Mr Coscelli, Mr Kwarteng wrote: ‘We have taken action to support motorists by cutting fuel duty for petrol and diesel in a £5billion package.
‘Despite this action, 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.
‘ 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 similar, nearby towns.’
Mr Coscelli said yesterday: ‘The increases in fuel prices in recent weeks will be hugely worrying for millions of drivers across the UK so we understand the Government’s concern around the perception that the fuel duty cut is not being passed on to drivers.
‘The CMA stands ready to take action if competition is not working properly, or if evidence emerges of illegal anticompetitive collusion. We will engage with industry, motoring organisations and the Government to ensure our advice to the Business Secretary is based on the facts. Anyone with evidence of competition issues, collusion, or other illegal anti-competitive behaviour should get in touch with us.’
Ministers are facing calls to slash fuel duty again by up to 20p a litre. This would cut the cost of filling up by £11 a tank. Others are calling for VAT, currently charged at 20 per cent, to be cut.
Analysis by the Daily Mail found that some retailers are charging over 10p a litre more than forecourts just a few miles away.
The BP filling station at junction 13 of the M4 in Berkshire was charging 202.9p a litre for petrol yesterday.
But a few miles away in Newbury the price was 188.9p – a 14p difference, or £7.70 for filling up the typical 55-litre tank in a family car.
The AA’s roads policy chief, Jack Cousens, said: ‘We are pleased that the CMA has been tasked to report on the cost of fuel. However, more urgent action is needed. To relieve pressure at the pumps we need an immediate 10p cut to fuel duty.’
The cost of fuel is being pushed up by soaring oil prices. They are surging due to increased global demand as China eases Covid restrictions and the US and Europe go into the peak driving season. The war in Ukraine is also a factor.
‘Price increases hugely worrying’