# Tesco reported to competition watchdog by consumer group over pricing concerns
Author:  Pal Sinha, Barnali 
Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali
Published: 2023-06-09
Category: NEWS
Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/news
Meta Title: Tesco reported to watchdog over pricing concerns
Meta Description: Consumer group Which? has reported Tesco to the competition regulator for failing to provide detailed pricing information on its loyalty card offers,
URL: https://financedigest.com/tesco-reported-to-competition-watchdog-by-consumer-group-over-pricing-concernshtml

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LONDON (Reuters) -Tesco, Britain’s biggest retailer, has been reported to the competition regulator by consumer group Which? over its failure to provide detailed pricing information on its loyalty card offers.

With UK food inflation close to record highs, Britons are shopping around and comparing prices at different supermarket groups.

Which? said on Friday that Tesco’s policy not to include unit pricing – the price per 100g or 100ml, for example – on its Clubcard loyalty scheme offers could in some cases be a [misleading practice under consumer protection regulations](https://www.financedigest.com/polish-regulator-accuses-t-mobile-of-misleading-advertising.html "Polish regulator accuses T-Mobile of misleading advertising").

Unit pricing helps shoppers compare the [prices of different products and make informed decisions about what to buy,”](https://www.financedigest.com/rising-oil-prices-buy-iran-time-in-nuclear-talks-officials-say.html "Rising oil prices buy Iran time in nuclear talks, officials say") said Which?.

This is particularly crucial during the current [cost of living crisis](https://www.financedigest.com/cost-of-living-crisis-consumers-keep-spending-for-now.html "Cost of living crisis? Consumers keep spending for now") as grocery inflation has hit historical highs.

Tesco, which has a more than 27% [share of Britain’s grocery market](https://www.financedigest.com/countertop-spray-market-share-by-2028-upcoming-trends-and-analysis.html "Countertop Spray Market Share by 2028: Upcoming Trends and Analysis"), said it complied with all the rules and that its approach had recently been endorsed by Trading Standards, a government service that ensures consumers are protected from unfair trading.

A Tesco spokesperson said the company was disappointed with the “ill-founded” claims against the Clubcard Prices scheme.

We always take care to ensure we are compliant which is why we asked [Trading Standards to review our approach on Clubcard Prices](https://www.financedigest.com/oil-prices-ease-to-trade-near-2-month-lows-on-china-demand-fears-dollar-strength.html "Oil prices ease to trade near 2-month lows on China demand fears, dollar strength"). They formally endorsed our labelling, confirming it [meets the current legal requirements](https://www.financedigest.com/fix-trading-community-announces-enhancements-to-the-fix-protocol-to-meet-the-requirements-of-mifid-ii-and-mifir.html "FIX Trading Community announces enhancements to the FIX Protocol to meet the requirements of MiFID II and MiFIR") and guidelines,” the spokesperson said.

They said that Tesco was, however, actively looking at how it could make the way it displays prices even clearer.

Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a review of supermarkets’ unit pricing in January, and last [month said it would step up its examination of grocery prices](https://www.financedigest.com/world-food-price-index-falls-for-sixth-month-in-sept-fao.html "World food price index falls for sixth month in Sept -FAO"). It said it had so far not seen evidence [pointing to specific concerns and will update on its work in late July](https://www.financedigest.com/fed-officials-still-leaning-to-75-basis-point-rate-hike-in-july.html "Fed officials still leaning to 75-basis-point rate hike in July").

According to the most recent official data, [food and drink inflation](https://www.financedigest.com/uk-retailers-report-record-food-inflation-but-see-falls-ahead.html "UK retailers report record food inflation but see falls ahead") was 19.1% in April, just below a 46-year high.

Grocery inflation eased slightly to 17.2% in May, [industry data](https://www.financedigest.com/the-data-driven-future-of-the-insurance-industry.html "The data-driven future of the insurance industry") showed.

Shares in Tesco, which is scheduled to update on first [quarter trading](https://www.financedigest.com/bnp-paribas-first-quarter-revenue-beats-as-trading-outperforms.html "BNP Paribas first-quarter revenue beats as trading outperforms") on June 16, were down 0.4% in morning trading, paring 2023 gains to 16.4%.

(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Kate Holton and Jane Merriman)


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