Thousands of drivers could be paying more than they need to for petrol and diesel after hundreds of UK filling stations failed to provide live fuel prices to the Government’s flagship Fuel Finder scheme.
Fresh analysis by the Press Association suggests many forecourts are not complying with the mandatory reporting rules designed to help motorists compare prices and find the cheapest fuel nearby.
The Fuel Finder service, launched by Labour earlier this year, requires every petrol station to update pump prices and fuel availability within 30 minutes of any change. Ministers estimated the scheme could save drivers between 1p and 6p per litre – worth up to £40 a year for the average motorist.
But the latest figures indicate the system is far from working as intended.
Of the 7,765 forecourts registered with Fuel Finder, 1,751 had not updated their petrol prices for more than a week, while almost 100 filling stations had failed to submit any new pricing data for at least a month.
A further 226 sites remain registered on the platform but have either never supplied any data or are listed as temporarily closed.
Simon Williams, head of policy at the RAC, questioned the figures, saying it was “not plausible” that so many filling stations had gone a week—or even a month—without changing fuel prices.
Most supermarkets and major fuel retailers receive fresh fuel deliveries at least once a week, making regular price changes almost inevitable, he said.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which oversees the scheme, has the power to impose significant financial penalties on businesses that fail to comply.
Sanctions can include fines of up to 1 per cent of a company’s worldwide turnover, daily penalties of up to 5 per cent of global daily turnover, or a combination of both.
The CMA said it would not hesitate to take enforcement action against retailers that breach the rules, although it acknowledged some smaller rural forecourts may update prices less frequently because they receive fuel deliveries less often.
The Petrol Retailers Association echoed that view, arguing that independent rural stations often operate under different supply schedules than larger supermarket chains.
The shortcomings come just months after Fuel Finder suffered embarrassing launch problems, with some stations incorrectly displaying fuel prices of £15 per litre instead of 150p, undermining confidence in the new system.
The latest RAC Fuel Watch data suggests motorists could soon receive some relief, with wholesale fuel costs pointing towards lower pump prices in the coming weeks.
Drivers are currently paying an average of 151.4p per litre for unleaded petrol, while diesel remains significantly higher at 167.14p per litre.
For now, however, the Government’s promise of helping motorists easily find Britain’s cheapest fuel risks being undermined if stations fail to keep their prices up to date.
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