For the past several months, fuel prices have had the firm glare of the media spotlight on them as the costs motorists pay at commercial property filling station pumps climbs higher and higher. With the average consumer paying around a fifth of their monthly disposable income on filling up their fuel tank, it has become clear that something must be done to help workers on their commute to their commercial property place of work.
And thankfully, it appears that the Government have now stepped in to ease the burden on commercial property workers.
Transport Secretary Justine Greening has told commercial properties that sell fuel to set up individual codes of practice which will allow motorists to check whether the fuel prices advertised are really fair, or whether they should offer custom to filling stations that offer a more realistic price. She says that this is to prevent large companies profiteering as the global oil price drops, as many choose a greater profit margin over passing on these reductions to customers at the pumps.
She has also warned that, should the oil companies and suppliers for commercial property filling stations fail to heed her advice, then Government legislation will be brought in to protect the pockets of Britain’s drivers.
Ms Greening said; “Petrol prices go up instantly when wholesale prices rise, but when wholesale prices fall it can take weeks for them to come down again.
“It’s time the big companies started playing fair with the motorist, so I am giving them one last chance.
“It is indefensible that motorists should be ripped off.”
Recently, the price of crude oil has fallen by 10 pence per litre, which is the reason that petrol prices have come down slightly since they hit an all time high in April of this year. However, although the wholesalers have saved money, the motorists in commercial property filling stations are only getting a 7 pence saving on average – thus allowing the oil companies to make an extra 3 pence per litre profit.
Ms Greening continued; “I want companies to come up with their own plan as soon as possible – and I’m talking days and weeks, not months.
“That way we can get prices down faster, rather than having to pass time-consuming legislation. But we will certainly do that if we have to.”
However, these demands by the Government could see them criticised by companies such as Tesco, Morrisons and Shell, all of whom make large annual profits from customers filling up at their commercial property petrol stations. This is because, despite the fact that a large percentage of the cost of petrol and diesel is made up of fuel duty, Chancellor George Osborne is still refusing to lower or in any way cut the Government’s share of fuel profits.
Edmund King, president of motoring company the AA, said; “Over the past seven years we have asked governments to act against the blurred world of UK pump prices, which every driver knows shoot up like a rocket and fall like a feather.
“MPs have joined the chorus of complaints against postcode lottery pricing where some towns charge up to 5p a litre more for their cheapest petrol compared to another town down the road. Yet nothing happened.”
Perhaps with the Government now realising the full extent of the unrest growing amongst British motorists, filling stations will be forced to lower their prices and offer a fair deal for people filling their tanks. However, it remains to be seen whether the Government’s hypocrisy in accusing oil companies of profiteering, when they make the biggest profit of all in fuel duty, will cause yet more problems for the Houses of Parliament.
Do you think that a regulated system for selling fuel is a good idea? Or do you believe that the Government should lead by example and lower the fuel duty before demanding that oil companies do the same?
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