Power and gas distributors are facing claims they ripped off customers by charging an extra $400 million for tax costs.

The discovery was made after the ATO analysed four years worth of tax returns by the electricity networks and gas pipelines.

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg tells Ross Greenwood there needs to be better regulation.

“These companies were saying they were going to pay three times more tax than they ended up actually paying.

“We need to change the rules to ensure it doesn’t happen again, bearing in mind the rules were put in place by the then federal Labor government in 2012.”

The Minister says he is “concerned about the concentration in the energy market”.

“We’ve seen the three largest players in any particular region or any particular state have up to 70% control of the market and that is why we need the ACCC to provide the advice to the government.”

Listen to the full interview below