Asda has begun publishing local fuel prices at its forecourts online, becoming the first retailer to launch the service following pressure from the competition watchdog and MPs over widened profit margins at the pump.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has called on the government to introduce legislation to ensure fuel retailers provide up-to-date pricing for a new industry-wide comparison service.
It came after the CMA found Asda had tripled its margins since before the coronavirus pandemic and retailers across the sector had pushed up the amount charged for diesel and petrol to unnecessarily high levels.
A voluntary scheme under which all fuel retailers disclose daily prices to comparison apps hopes to launch by the end of this month. The CMA wants this to be followed by a legally backed compulsory regime with live pricing data, allowing drivers to more easily shop around for the best deals.
The service Asda launched on Wednesday lists local fuel prices, updated daily, on the homepage of each store alongside other information, such as whether there is a cafe or toilets. However, it is not possible to pull up a list of forecourts to compare prices at nearby stores, nor to compare with what rival retailers are offering.
Asda had previously published local prices at its forecourts in an online service launched in 2017, but later quietly ditched that service. Price comparison services including Go Compare and Petrolprices.com also publish petrol and diesel pump figures but it is not clear how up to date that information is.
Sainsbury’s and Morrisons said they were working with the government to help implement price-comparison schemes. Tesco said it was in active discussions with the CMA about its price checker scheme.
The CMA also called for a government-backed body to monitor prices after it published a study showing that the average annual supermarket fuel margins had increased significantly from 2019 to 2022, representing a 6p-a-litre increase –equivalent to £900m in extra costs last year.
The price of fuel has become a lightning rod for concerns about the rising cost of living as high levels of inflation on food, energy and other everyday essentials have squeezed household budgets.
In July, the energy secretary, Grant Shapps, accused some fuel retailers of “using motorists as cash cows” by failing to pass on savings quickly enough when the wholesale price of fuel dropped.
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Asda said its new scheme was a first step towards a system that would show “real-time pricing” that would be in place “in the coming months”. The company added that it was “continuing to work collaboratively with the government as they develop an industry-wide fuel finder scheme”.
A spokesperson said: “By sharing our prices online, customers will be able to find the best value at the pumps before they get in the car.”
