COMPETITION WATCHDOG DECLARES FUEL PRICES REMAIN A RIP-OFF – The CMA’s report shows the need for a compulsory fuel price monitoring system

Competition among fuel retailers is “failing consumers” because drivers are still paying too much to fill up, according to regulators.

In an update on its monitoring of the fuel market, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the cost to all motorists from the previously identified increase in retail fuel margins since 2019 was over £1.6bn in 2023 alone.

The watchdog found last year that drivers had overpaid in 2022 by £900m at supermarket fuel sites alone.

The CMA also announced that it would give separate updates in the autumn on its work covering the cost of baby infant formula and supermarket loyalty schemes.

It added that there was little evidence supermarkets’ loyalty prices were misleading shoppers, as consumer groups have widely suggested.

The regulator’s fuel price study has resulted in action aimed at bolstering competition but it is yet to get up to speed.