UK retailers too slow to pass on fuel price falls, watchdog says

Competition and Markets Authority raises concerns about ‘passive pricing strategies’ used by some petrol stations

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Some petrol stations are still not passing on changes in wholesale prices quickly enough and more than 1,000 warning letters have been sent to retailers failing to give prices to the Fuel Finder service, the UK competition watchdog has said.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) raised concerns in its latest quarterly update on the fuel market over “passive pricing strategies” used by the majority of retailers, which it said were helping to keep profit margins high amid soaring cost pressures on drivers from the Iran war.