The RAC are urging major retailers to cut petrol prices by 5p per litre as wholesale costs are in fact lower and supermarkets have been accused of hiking their margins.
The RAC found that supermarkets margins on petrol are about 14p per litre which is double of the long term average of 7p.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “Our analysis sadly shows that despite the Competition and Markets Authority’s investigation confirming drivers were being ripped off at the pumps – something we have been saying for years – and the Government acting on the findings, nothing has changed.
“Drivers are still losing out massively when wholesale prices come down.
“But in Northern Ireland, where the supermarkets don’t dominate fuel retailing, drivers are getting fairer deal with a litre of unleaded costing 150p and diesel 157p – 5p less than the UK average.
“Drivers and, indeed, the Treasury, should be furious that the 5p per litre duty cut, which has been in place since the end of March 2022, is not being passed on at forecourts.
“There is no doubt from studying RAC Fuel Watch data that margins are up across the board, and while retailers argue their costs have increased due to inflation, the irony remains that there is a definite link between pump prices and consumer price inflation.
“A failure to cut pump prices to fairer levels when there is a clear opportunity to do so has the effect of keeping inflation artificially high – which is clearly in nobody’s interest.”
