LONDON: British business minister Kwasi Kwarteng said on Tuesday he had written to petrol retailers over concern a cut in fuel duty was not being passed on to consumers, adding he had asked the competition regulator to investigate.
The Times newspaper had earlier reported that a 5 pence cut in duty, announced by the government in March, was not being passed onto motorists who have seen prices soar due to a surge in oil prices worldwide.
Kwarteng wrote to the heads of the Petroleum Industry Association, the Fuel Distributors Association, the Petrol Retailers Association and the Downstream Fuel Association, saying people were “frustrated” the cut did not appear to have affected forecourt prices “in any visible or meaningful way”.
“As a result of perceived intransigence to date - and on my instruction - my officials recently engaged the Competition and Markets Authority about this issue,” he said in the letter.
“As you would expect, the Authority has been closely monitoring the situation and will continue to do so. I have been reassured that they will not hesitate to use their powers to act against petrol stations if there is evidence that they are infringing competition or consumer law.” Last week, Darren Briggs, managing director of the Ascona Group, which operates 60 fuel stations across the United Kingdom, said Britons were cutting back on petrol and diesel purchases as they reduced car journeys to save cash, amid a worsening cost of living crisis.
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