The automotive industry says the competition and consumer watchdog has the power to crack down on petrol price gouging by supermarkets and other fuel retailers.
An analysis by the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) shows motorists have been short-changed by shopper docket discounts offered by Coles and Woolworths during summer.
The two supermarket giants raised prices to cover their eight cents per litre double discount offers, the analysis found.
The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) says the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) had the powers to reduce the influence of the supermarket chains and other fuel retailers in setting the market price for petrol.
FCAI chief executive Andrew McKellar said the gross margin for petrol retailers had increased during the past few months, much to the detriment of motorists including those with the discount vouchers.
'At every point in the cycle, it has been higher which means that people are paying more than they would have otherwise,' he said on Monday.
Earlier independent senator Nick Xenophon called for Australia's petrol commissioner to be sacked following the report.
Taxpayers would be better off if peak motoring bodies monitored fuel prices than the office of the petrol commissioner, he said.
'The petrol commissioner experiment has failed and it's time to disband it,' he said.
