Energy suppliers in Britain accused of overcharging
British regulators have proposed an energy price cap for consumers including millions of low-income households across the country.
A report by the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) into the UK’s energy sector shows energy suppliers have been charging excessively high tariffs to about 4 million households using pre-payment meters.
Households are paying nearly £1.7bn more each year on their energy bills, the report said.
Under the proposal, suppliers including British Gas would be forced to open up their customer databases to allow rival companies offer better deals. The proposals are designed to reform the energy market and increase competition to help consumers save money.
Any cap on prepaid meter tariffs would benefit low-income homes the most and they could save more than £300 on average by switching suppliers.
“We have found that the six largest suppliers have learned to take many of their existing domestic customers – some 70% of whom are on ‘default’ standard variable tariffs – for granted, not just over prices, but with their service and quality,” Roger Witcomb, head of the energy market investigation, said.
“We’re proposing a wide range of bold, innovative measures to enable competition to grow further across the market so that millions more households will benefit.”
The CMA launched its inquiry in June 2014 and found that the six big energy suppliers -SSE, Iberdrola’s Scottish Power, Centrica, RWE npower, E.ON and EDF Energy were abusing their control of the market.
The big six have always argued the market is highly competitive and the profits commensurate with the risks they take.
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