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Gas station data overview:
- Who: The Competition and Markets Authority has recommended Parliament require gas stations to submit up-to-date gas station data.
- Why: A recent fuel market study reportedly found that consumers have paid more per liter for gas than they would normally pay because supermarket gas stations focused on higher fuel margins.
- Where: The fuel app would report data from gas stations in the U.K.
The Competition and Markets Authority is asking Parliament to support its plan to use gas station data to create a fuel app that would let consumers know which gas stations have the cheapest fuel, Law360 reports.
To make the fuel app possible, the CMA says gas stations would need to keep the regulatory agency updated about their current fuel prices. By compiling this gas station data and making it accessible to consumers, the CMA hopes to increase competition among gas stations.
The CMA has recommended that Parliament should create an open data fuel finder scheme on a statutory basis to support the ability of consumers to compare fuel data and “increase incentives on retailers to compete hard on price.”
Sarah Cardell of the CMA says its plan to create a fuel app updated with current gas station data “would end the need to drive round and look at the prices displayed on the forecourt and would ideally enable live price data on satnavs and map apps.”
She says that the fuel app would make it easier for drivers to find up-to-date prices and force fuel retailers to compete for their business.
CMA says fuel market study shows need for fuel app to incentivize competition among gas stations
The CMA recently published a fuel market study report that analyzed the fuel market, prices, and competition. The report noted that drivers who purchased fuel at supermarket gas stations last year paid 6 pence more per liter than they would have paid because some of the U.K.’s largest supermarket chains focused on higher fuel margins.
Asda tripled its fuel margins and Morrisons doubled its margins between 2019 and 2023, according to the CMA.
“Other retailers, including Sainsbury’s and Tesco, did not respond in the way you would expect in a competitive market and instead raised their prices in line with these changes,” the CMA said. “Taken together this indicates that competition has weakened and reinforces the need for action.”
An investigation into fuel prices during the COVID-19 pandemic found that U.K. drivers may have been overcharged by as much as £10 per tank during lockdown in 2020.
What do you think about the CMA’s plan to create a fuel app based on real-time gas station data? Join the discussion in the comments!
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