The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA), effective from 6 April 2025, significantly reforms the UK's consumer protection landscape. Replacing the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 with similar but enhanced provisions, the DMCCA enhances obligations on businesses and introduces powerful new enforcement tools for regulators, notably the Competition and Markets Authority.
We previously provided a DMCCA overview, but in this article we focus on what consumer-facing businesses need to understand about these important changes.
Expanded unfair practices regime
The DMCCA broadens the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 range of practices that are always considered unfair. Such practices now explicitly include:
- Fake and misleading consumer reviews: prohibitions now cover commissioning, publishing, or facilitating fake consumer reviews or concealed incentivised reviews. This responds to increasing concerns around manipulated online review systems, impacting online platforms, including social media, retailers, and influencers.
- Pressure selling techniques: restrictions against falsely suggesting limited-time and space availability have expanded, reflecting greater regulatory scrutiny of online sales tactics and 'dark patterns'.
- False medical claims: previously limited to false curative claims, prohibitions now extend explicitly to false claims around altering a person’s appearance or addressing conditions of the mind, as well as claims around prevention or treatment of medical issues and those which make claims around restoring, correcting or modifying physiological function.
- After-sales services and safety claims: broader rules now cover misleading statements about after-sales services (including language and location) and materially inaccurate claims concerning personal safety, extending protections beyond consumers themselves to anyone living in their homes.
Businesses must review their marketing strategies and communications to eliminate these unfair practices, which are now subject to significant penalties, please see below.
Enhanced consumer reviews regulations
From 6 April 2025, stringent rules specifically addressing fake and misleading reviews apply, requiring proactive compliance:
- Businesses must not selectively publish or remove reviews to misrepresent overall feedback.
- They must disclose clearly when reviews are incentivised, for example through discounts or freebies, to avoid misleading consumers.
- A positive obligation is imposed to prevent fake or misleading reviews from being published, requiring regular monitoring, risk assessments, and robust compliance policies.
The Competition and Markets Authority has indicated a three-month grace period post-implementation until 5 July 2025, to focus on compliance support rather than immediate enforcement, after which serious breaches will likely face substantial penalties.
Ban on drip pricing
A central reform targets drip pricing - where businesses reveal mandatory fees incrementally throughout a purchasing journey. From April 2025:
- Advertised prices must reflect the total cost, including all mandatory (unavoidable) charges, taxes and fees. Mandatory charges include administration fees, booking fees, service charges, platform charges, delivery fees, joining fees, mandatory cleaning charges, and taxes.
- Clear exceptions exist only where calculating a total price upfront is genuinely impractical. Even then, detailed information on price calculation must be equally prominent to the headline price.
- Further Competition and Markets Authority guidance and consultation is anticipated later this year, especially concerning:
- Fixed-term periodic contracts: for example, if a gym membership is for a fixed 12-month contract at £110 per month, the invitation to purchase should state that the total price is £1,110. This caused much concern as contracts can be of different lengths and include variable elements.
- Complex delivery fee structures: for example, delivery charges may be waived where a minimum amount is spent which makes it difficult to include them per product as part of a total price.
Businesses must audit their pricing disclosures across marketing materials, websites, and advertisements to ensure all pricing information is provided clearly, in a timely manner, and in a way that the consumer is likely to see.
Direct enforcement and significant penalties
A key feature of the DMCCA is the new direct enforcement powers granted to the Competition and Markets Authority, enabling the authority to investigate breaches and impose substantial fines without court intervention - up to £300,000 or 10% of a business’ global annual turnover, whichever is higher. Early enforcement is expected to focus on particularly egregious cases involving fake reviews, clearly unlawful drip pricing, and other serious infringements, reinforcing the importance of proactive compliance.
In addition to the above, the DMCCA also makes some significant changes to subscription offerings, more information on this can be found here.
Next steps for businesses
Given the enhanced regulatory environment:
- Conduct thorough compliance audits, particularly around unfair practices, reviews, and pricing transparency across all sale and marketing channels.
- Update internal policies and compliance frameworks to reflect the DMCCA's enhanced requirements.
- Provide training for marketing, sales, and compliance teams on the specifics of the new rules.
- Closely monitor Competition and Markets Authority guidance, enforcement activities, and ongoing consultations to adapt swiftly to evolving regulatory expectations.
The DMCCA represents a clear step-change in consumer protection regulation in the UK. Businesses proactive in embedding compliance into their operational frameworks will mitigate risks and ensure sustained consumer trust and regulatory confidence.
For further guidance and assistance in implementing these changes, please contact our commercial team at Ashfords.
