A litre of petrol is expected to cost less than £1.40 by the end of the month, according to Finixio, after the monopolies watchdog cracked down on supermarkets overcharging for fuel.
It would be the first time petrol prices fell below £1.40 since October 2021.
A litre of diesel is expected to fall to about £1.49.
The Competition and Markets Authority today proposed new rules for road fuel pricing after determining that supermarkets Asda, Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s had overcharged customers by around £900 million in total. The watchdog fined Asda £60,000 for failing to provide information on its fuel prices in a timely manner.
The CMA recommended that the Government introduce legislation requiring retailers to provide up-to-date pricing information available in an accessible format. This would allow drivers to compare pump prices at different sites through apps or satellite navigation systems.
It is hoped that this legislation will help bring petrol prices down to levels not seen in almost two years.
CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said: “Competition at the pump is not working as well as it should be and something needs to change swiftly to address this.
“Drivers buying fuel at supermarkets in 2022 have paid around 6p per litre more than they would have done otherwise due to the four major supermarkets increasing their margins.”
Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, said: “At a time consumers and businesses were already struggling with rising prices supermarkets were adding to the burden by increasing their profit margins on fuel.
“Almost one billion pounds was syphoned out of motorists’ pockets in 2022 as a result of the change in practice which the competition watchdog says began with Asda and Morrisons, both of which had recently changed ownership.
“Prior to being taken into the hands of private equity both supermarkets had been aggressive in their pricing policy, with Asda in particular setting the bar which other supermarkets and retailers used for their own pricing decisions.
The CMA is also currently investigating supermarkets on food prices.
