Filling stations could be fined for ignoring ‘pumpwatch’ scheme

Fuel retailers that fail to pass on pricing information to a new ‘pumpwatch’ scheme could be fined up to 5% of their daily turnover if they don’t comply with the scheme.

Larger retailers could be charged a maximum of 1% of global turnover – or, in some cases, both.

Consultation on the proposals is now underway, reports Forecourt Trader, ahead of the Government laying out a final version of the regulations in the coming months.

Fines could be issued by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) under new powers gained in the new Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act.

This was one of the final pieces of legislation passed by the previous Conservative government.

There are hopes the new Labour government will use it to increase fuel price transparency and avoid what the RAC has dubbed a ‘fuel price postcode lottery’.

The CMA agrees – because fuel retailers generally only display fuel prices on external totems, it’s hard for motorists to easily compare filling stations with their competitors.

Last year, the CMA recommended the setting up of a ‘fuel finder scheme’, which would help drivers find the cheapest nearby fuel using sat nav or smartphone apps.

While full legislation has yet to be laid out, the CMA has established a temporary price-sharing scheme, under which retailers and supermarket groups can voluntarily provide daily information.

Forecourt Trader said the CMA admits the temporary scheme only covers 40% of sites and "is not comprehensive enough to be used by data aggregation companies to provide real-time information to motorists."

Earlier this month, the RAC slammed Asda for failing to provide information on 12 days during July, although Asda later told us it did not recognise the report and had actually provided daily data to the system.

The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA), which represents filling station operators, adds that the CMA has not yet fully defined the information it is requesting and "it is not yet clear if this will include smaller dealer groups or single site operators," says PRA executive director Gordon Balmer.