According to regulators, competition between fuel sellers is "failing consumers" because drivers continue to spend too much to fill up. In an update on its fuel market monitoring, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) stated that the previously identified increase in retail fuel margins since 2019 would cost all motorists over £1.6 billion in 2023.

The watchdog, which discovered last year that drivers had overpaid in 2022 by £900 million at supermarket petrol stations alone, said it supported ongoing efforts to achieve a mandatory fuel price monitoring system to help customers make educated decisions. It stated that its temporary price data-sharing arrangement continued to cover barely 40% of service stations.The CMA also stated that it was insufficiently comprehensive to be used by map apps or sat-navs to provide accurate, real-time information to users. The regulator's third monitoring report comes after driving groups have long claimed that fuel profiteering is taking place. While supermarket chains used to exploit gas and diesel to entice shoppers, that changed following the COVID pandemic when the retailers invested in the cost of household supplies.

Independent fuel retailers have long denied that their prices are excessive, claiming that opponents fail to account for their own additional costs such as payroll and power.Independent fuel retailers have long denied that their prices are excessive, claiming that opponents fail to account for their own additional costs such as payroll and power.