Regulators set to introduce Pumpwatch site to end driver rip-offs
Regulators set to introduce Pumpwatch site to prevent drivers being ripped off as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt says regulators have ‘my 100 per cent backing to crack down on any unfair treatment’ of motorists
- New rules could be announced as soon as tomorrow amid clampdown on firms
- Scheme would display local prices for drivers so they can fill up where lowest
Ministers are to give the go-ahead to a ‘pump watch’ scheme forcing retailers to share petrol and diesel prices online to end the scourge of drivers being ripped off.
New rules could be announced as soon as tomorrow as the Government begins to clampdown on businesses unfairly hammering consumers by not passing on cuts in wholesale prices.
The idea of a pumpwatch scheme that would make it easier for drivers to find out local prices and fill up where the price is lowest has been around for some time.
It is hopes the scheme would force retails including major supermarkets to lower prices in areas where they are high, as drivers flock to lower prices nearby.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has thrown Treasury support behind the scheme, telling the Sun on Sunday: ‘I am committed to getting a fair deal for motorists.
I met with watchdogs this week to work out how to reduce everyday costs. They have my 100 per cent backing to crack down on any unfair treatment.’
New rules could be announced as soon as tomorrow as the Government begins to clampdown on businesses unfairly hammering consumers by not passing on cuts in wholesale prices.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has thrown Treasury support behind the scheme, telling the Sun on Sunday: ‘I am committed to getting a fair deal for motorists.’
The Chancellor and Grant Shapps, the Energy Secretary, have previously been said to favour something like a scheme that already runs in Northern Ireland, which has been credited with reducing the average price of filling up.
According to the RAC the average cost of filling up with petrol in the UK is 143.86p per litre, and diesel 145.54p.
That is down from a peak of 191.43p for petrol and 199.07p for diesel in July last year as the war in Ukraine and other factors causes a surge in prices.
While they are now lower there is concern that motorists are still not getting the best deal from retailers.
Britain’s competition watchdog revealed in May plans to investigate whether consumers are paying more for fuel because of a ‘failure in competition’ in the supply chain and supermarkets.
The Competition and Mergers Authority (CMA) said it had found evidence that weakening retail competition was contributing to higher fuel prices for drivers.
It noted that fuel margins have increased across the retail market, but in particular for supermarkets, over the past four years.
The regulator announced an update on the Road Fuel market study it began last year, saying that indications were that higher pump prices could not be attributed solely to factors outside the control of the retailers and ‘appear in part to reflect some weakening of competition in the road fuel retail market’.
Evidence indicated that fuel margins had increased in particular for supermarkets over the past four years, with average 2022 supermarket pump prices appearing to be around 5p per litre more expensive than they would have been had their average percentage margins remained at 2019 levels.
Source: Read Full Article