Petrol station bosses urged to back new PumpWatch — and stop treating motorists as ‘cash cows’
PETROL station bosses have been told to back a new PumpWatch — and stop treating hard-up drivers as “cash cows”.
Energy Secretary Grant Shapps urged retailers to join a voluntary scheme agreed yesterday in which daily forecourt prices are logged on a central database.
Watchdogs have given firms the go-ahead to publish prices, which can then be used by comparison sites and apps so drivers can easily find the cheapest fuel near to them.
Mr Shapps called on retailers to “play ball” ahead of ministers making the price comparison initiative mandatory.
It comes after it emerged retailers pocketed £900million of falling wholesale fuel costs rather than passing them on to motorists.
Mr Shapps said: “For too long, motorists have been treated as cash cows.
To encourage competition and help customers decide where to fill up, retailers are being asked to hand over their price information daily.”
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the voluntary scheme will provide more recent pricing data.
Howard Cox, of FairFuelUK, said: “We’ve campaigned relentlessly for 13 years with The Sun to finally get honest and transparent petrol and diesel pricing at UK forecourts.
“Prices influence inflation so I’m pleased the CMA’s woken up to my PumpWatch proposals to stop opportunistic profiteering.
“It is a move in the right direction.”