Asda launches daily price checker to help petrol and diesel drivers save on fuel
Asda will publish daily fuel prices on its website.
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When searching for the nearest store, drivers can view the petrol and diesel prices at every Asda supermarket location in the UK on its website.
The latest fuel prices will be made available every morning and display the previous day’s closing price to boost transparency in the fuel market.
Asda also confirmed that it would collaborate with the Government to develop an “industry-wide fuel finder scheme”.
The fuel checker will display prices at 10.30am every day, but the supermarket stated that it would soon develop a system to show real-time pricing.
It is hoped the new tool will help drivers save money on fuel.
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A spokesperson for the supermarket said: “Asda is proud to be the price leader and by sharing our prices online customers will be able to find the best value at the pumps before they get in the car.”
In July, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published a long-awaited report on ways that drivers can get more competitive fuel prices.
It highlighted how supermarket prices were generally the cheapest, with Asda offering the lowest prices among the “big four” stores.
The report also found that with greater transparency, the driver of a typical family car could have saved up to £4.50 per tank by driving to another forecourt within a five-minute drive.
Speaking at the time, Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA, said: “Competition at the pump is not working as well as it should be and something needs to change swiftly to address this.
“Drivers buying fuel at supermarkets in 2022 have paid around six pence per litre more than they would have done otherwise, due to the four major supermarkets increasing their margins.”
The CMA added that drivers need to be able to compare fuel prices to find the best price, which in turn will promote competition among major retailers and smaller independent forecourts.
Following the report, the Government called on supermarkets to sign up to a voluntary scheme set up by the CMA to share the most recent data on fuel prices.
It is hoped that a national fuel price checker would be available for drivers to check with live price data on satnavs and map apps.
Reacting to the announcement, Simon Williams, RAC fuel spokesperson, said: "While it’s good to see the supermarkets start to publish their pump prices, we don’t believe displaying them on websites will suddenly make retailers start charging fairer prices.
"We don’t believe we’re likely to see real change until we have an official price monitoring body, as recommended by the CMA, that has the power to fine companies that don’t properly reflect significant downward wholesale market movements on their forecourts.”
Motorists in Northern Ireland have already been benefitting from a fuel price checker thanks to the Consumer Council which updates its prices regularly for every major town and city.
As a result of the tool, both petrol and diesel prices in Northern Ireland have remained lower than those found in England, Scotland, and Wales.
Currently, Cookstown is showing the cheapest average rate for petrol and diesel with drivers in the area paying just 135.3p per litre for either fuel type.
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Asda will become the first UK supermarket to publish its fuel prices.
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In comparison, the current supermarket average price for petrol stands at 141.72p per litre and £1.43 for diesel.
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