Petrol prices: Supermarket bosses told 'enough is enough'

Energy Secretary Grant Shapps spoke to bosses after the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the talks were aimed at getting retailers to agree to the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) voluntary scheme “that would see them share their accurate road fuel prices by August so we can improve transparency and competition”.

The UK’s competition watchdog warned earlier this month that drivers in the UK paid an extra £900 million in fuel last year as they were charged 6p more per litre.

The CMA then said it would launch a voluntary scheme to provide customers with live, transparent fuel price data.

Energy Secretary Grant Shapps (Image: PA)

In a tweet directed towards UK motorists after the call, Mr Shapps said: “I have just got off a call with supermarket and petrol station bosses to demand that they immediately stop overcharging you at the petrol pump.

“When their costs were falling they kept prices high and refused to pass on the savings on to to you.

“Well, there’s no excuse and the government is saying `enough is enough’.

“I wanted you to know first that we’ve demanded an immediate end to overcharging and I have told bosses they must hand over their price data.

“Now this will mean that you can find the best deal and you can be alerted if anyone tries to rip you off again.”

Supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s have already said they would welcome the scheme.

Executives from Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, as well as those from fuel specialists BP, Shell and Esso, were believed to have been at the meeting on Monday afternoon.

Mr Shapps said he called for an “end to inexcusable behaviour in over-charging at the pump”, and welcomed their support for the voluntary scheme.

Petrol and diesel prices soared to record levels last year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine but have since fallen back.

The CMA started an investigation into UK fuel retailer earlier this year amid concerns that wholesale price reductions were not being full passed on to customers.

The regulator said competition was “not working as well as it should be” in its initial report.

The watchdog also launched an investigation into supermarket grocery pricing over concerns that retailers could be profiteering from food and drink inflation and is expected to unveil initial findings this month.

A spokesman for Shell said: “We are reviewing the Competition and Markets Authority report on fuel pricing published last week, for which we inputted into and responded to all requests for data.

“We await more information from the CMA and Government on what they propose and certainly will participate in discussions on the way forwards.”