Petrol retailers fleecing drivers with ‘same old tactic’ of rocket-and-feather pricing, AA warns

Fuel retailers continue to use the “same old tactic” of pens and rockets to fleece British drivers at the pumps, despite ongoing efforts to crack down on the practice, the AA says.

In recent days, gas stations have been employing “rocket and boom” pricing, meaning they are not passing on lower wholesale costs as quickly as pump prices rise when they do.

This is despite the Government trying to iron out the details of a new policy to force fuel companies to be transparent about their petrol and diesel prices.

This week saw the first drop in average fuel prices since the beginning of the year.

While reducing the cost per liter of petrol and diesel seems long overdue, what motorists pay at the pump is still much higher than it should be, the AA believes.

Since mid-April – more than a month ago – the wholesale price of petrol has fallen by around 4p a litre.

However, in the last 10 days, the average cost of unleaded petrol across the UK has dropped by just a penny, with retailers pocketing the difference.

“In addition, once again it is necessary to explain the premium for diesel, which on average at the pump is around 7p per liter more than petrol, when wholesale prices are almost equal,” the AA explained.

This not only hurts the wallets and purses of the country’s drivers, but also “considerably reduces efforts to reduce inflation,” the automobile organization adds.

The hope is that the introduction of a ‘PumpWatch’ scheme will draw attention to fuel companies that overcharge at service stations and pocket higher margins.

It would see all petrol stations across the UK legally obliged to share real-time price information within half an hour of raising or lowering prices.

Analysis of fuel prices reveals that retailers’ average profit margin (the difference between the amount they pay for fuel and the price they charge at filling stations) is currently almost 18 pence per liter of diesel and almost 14 pence per liter of petrol.

In the decade before the Covid pandemic, the average profit margin on both fuels was just 8p.

It means the combination of fairer pricing and companies cutting inflated margins would save petrol car drivers around 8p per liter at the pump.

In a letter sent to Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho last week, the RAC said the competition watchdog should be given the power to take “significant action” against fuel companies that overcharge customers. drivers for gasoline and diesel.

Today, fourteen of the largest fuel retailers voluntarily share daily price data through the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) scheme.

However, ministers are said to be finalizing finer details to make this mandatory across the retail network.

Luke Bosdet, AA spokesperson on road fuel prices. says very few retailers are reducing the average pump price in the UK as fast as drivers and the country’s fight against inflation need it.

‘Fuel trade talks about trying to change the narrative about pump prices, emphasizing their higher costs.

‘However, when a drop in wholesale costs equivalent to a £2 saving on a tank of fuel is barely noticeable weeks later, it feels a lot like the same old story.

‘And when it’s clear that some retailers are lowering their prices, you have to ask what’s holding the majority back.

Currently, the pump price of petrol across the UK averages 149.0 p liter (fuelpricesonline.com, based on CMA data), having reached a high of 150.1 pence in the last week of April.

Diesel is currently averaging 155.8p per litre, after reaching a high of 158.3p last month.

An analysis of pump petrol price data submitted to the CMA by the four supermarkets and four major oil companies, covering 2,861 service stations, found that, on Tuesday, 23.2 per cent were charging at least 150 pence a litre.

Only three offered petrol at less than 140 pence a litre: one in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, another near Guildford and another in Llangefni, on the island of Anglesey.