ACCC fires salvo over petrol dockets Ticked off: Coles and Woolworths are creating a duopoly, says Rod Sims. An investigation into shopper-docket fuel discounts has led the nation's powerful competition regulator to warn the scheme may push up the price of petrol and create an unassailable petrol duopoly similar to the one the supermarket giants have. On Monday, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims savaged supermarket chains Woolworths and Coles for using steep petrol discounts - which this month offered as much as 45¢ per litre off the bowser price - and its long-term impact on competition. "If these shopper dockets continue at these levels it's going to be very hard for other players to compete, and we may just end up with two players in the country selling petrol, which is not going to be in your interest," he told an Australian Institute of Company Directors gathering. While large shopper-docket discounts provide short-term benefits to some consumers, the likely harm to other fuel retailers, and therefore to competition and the competitive process for petrol retailing, could well be substantial. ACCC is nine months into an investigation into shopper dockets. Its findings are to be made public before Christmas. However, under current legislation the ACCC has no power to stop the shopper-docket schemes, only to investigate activity and, where appropriate, take court action. Politicians, retailers and service station owners have long attacked Woolworths and Coles for their increasingly steep fuel discount promotions, arguing everything from a conspiracy by the chains to pump up the price of petrol, to cross-subsidising losses on petrol by raising their grocery prices. The supermarket chains insist their fuel offers help families balance their weekly budgets, while saying the ACCC's public pronouncements could be more about placating interest groups. A Woolworths spokeswoman said its petrol discounts were popular with customers who valued the savings on fuel. "Petrol is a significant part of the family budget and many of our customers find these discounts helpful in managing their weekly expenses," she said. A Coles spokesman said: "Fuel dockets reduce the cost of motoring for millions of Australians and, along with the $1 billion a year we are saving customers through lower grocery prices. They are helping hard-working families deal with the rising cost of living. We think customers should have lower prices on groceries and be able to save on fuel. Independent senator Nick Xenophon has called for new legislation to deal with the issue of discount vouchers, and criticised existing competition laws for being weak and ineffective. He said he planned to draft legislation when Parliament resumed, allowing the ACCC to issue cease-and-desist orders while an investigation is pending. Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association chief executive Nic Moulis said the supermarkets were using income from higher grocery prices on some supermarket items to subsidise fuel discounts. "We also feel the large discounts on offer are selling fuel below cost, below the price most independent operators can buy fuel at," he said. He blamed the closure of 1000 service stations since 2009 partly on fuel discount schemes.