It’s part of the government-backed Fuel Finder Scheme, which aims to make fuel price data freely available via the Fuel Finder website and through mapping/price comparison apps. The idea is simple: stop drivers doing the “drive around like a headless chicken checking forecourt signs” routine.
What the CMA thinks this could do
The Competition and Markets Authority has suggested better transparency and easier price comparison could save drivers up to £4.50 per tank within a five-minute radius, if it genuinely reignites competition.
Industry requirement
This isn’t optional. Fuels Industry UK told members: all petrol filling stations must participate, whether independent or part of a larger group.
EV Café Takeaway
“People driving petrol or diesel, every penny counts.”
Sara Sloman
“There’s a petrol station near me that drops its price and it literally blocks the road. That’s how price-sensitive people are.”
Sara Sloman
This is one of those “why did we not do this years ago?” policies. If the data is actually usable and genuinely real-time, it should reduce the quiet nonsense of wildly different prices within a few miles.
But it also adds pressure to a reality we keep pointing at: the running cost conversation is only getting louder, and it won’t stay focused on petrol forever.
Drivers are already trained to price-hunt. Charging transparency isn’t a cultural leap, it’s an inevitability!