Asda 'worst' for compliance with voluntary fuel price watch scheme – but supermarket giant fights back
Wed, 14 Aug 2024
Supermarket fuel giant Asda has been rated worst for compliance with a voluntary scheme that monitors fuel prices.
According to RAC Fuel Watch, Asda only provided pump prices to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on 12 days during July – a compliance rate of 39%.
In contrast, its three supermarket rivals – Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco – submitted data every day in July, as did BP, Shell and the Motor Fuel Group.
When contacted by HonestJohn, the supermarket fuel giant said it didn’t recognise the claim, as it had consistently complied with the CMA’s voluntary price submission scheme during July. It also changed fuel prices on its store locator page every day.
However the data also showed Asda’s pump prices vary by the most, depending on where you are in the country. The difference between its lowest and highest prices for a litre of petrol is a hefty 18p, found the RAC.
In contrast, the variance across all Tesco forecourts is just 7p a litre.
For diesel, the gap between Asda’s lowest and highest prices is even higher, at 21p a litre, compared to an average 13p variance for its rivals.
Asda operates 665 forecourts, says the RAC, around half of which are at its supermarket stores.
The RAC says fuel prices were "stubbornly static" in July, despite wholesale prices falling. It believes drivers are still, on average, paying 5p a litre too much for petrol and 8p a litre too much for diesel.
"It’s disappointing to see fuel prices remain far higher than they should be, especially after the CMA announced at the end of July that drivers were overcharged by an astonishing £1.6bn last year."
"With our analysis clearly showing margins are still significantly above the long-term average, it seems like nothing has changed and drivers continue to lose out, despite all the ongoing scrutiny from the CMA and the government."
The RAC says the introduction of the Government’s Pumpwatch scheme can’t come soon enough along with the setting up of the official price monitoring body – so long as it has the power to clamp down on retailers who consistently overcharge.
Asda responded by pointing out that it was the first supermarket to publish local fuel prices on its store locator pages online.
"We provide our pricing information to the CMA for their industry-wide fuel finder scheme, reaffirming our commitment to price transparency," says a spokeperson.
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