Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said there was evidence that some retailers are overcharging customers, adding to pressure on the sector as authorities struggle to bring down the highest inflation rate among the world's rich economies.
Bailey has faced criticism over the Bank of England's approach to addressing the surge in price growth.
He told the BBC that moves by regulators on retail prices, especially in the fuel market, would help to lower inflation.
"That's important. It helps us with inflation, but it's just fairer if these things are tackled. This is having very difficult effects," Bailey said.
Britain's finance minister Jeremy Hunt met regulators last week to discuss ways to ensure consumers do not pay more than they should and those struggling to make payments receive help.
On Monday, competition regulators said drivers buying fuel at supermarkets last year paid more than they would have done otherwise due to major supermarkets increasing their margins.
In his interview, Bailey reiterated previous comments that the Bank of England had to act now to bring down inflation or risk more pain from high interest rates in the future.
He declined to speculate on when borrowing costs might fall.
"I can't give you a date as to when interest rates start to come down because that really depends upon what happens over the period of time ahead, but getting inflation down is the most important thing that we have to do," Bailey said.
"Inflation has already started to come down and I expect ... quite a marked fall in inflation, we'll notice it. What we have to do is set the interest rate to get it all the way down to 2%," he said.
British inflation hit a 41-year high of 11.1% in October 2022 and held at 8.7% in May, more than double the rate in the US and much higher than in the euro zone.
