The DMCC Act will dramatically change the consumer protection landscape in the UK. Not only will the CMA get much stronger investigatory and enforcement powers, but underlying consumer laws will also be strengthened. Fake reviews will be added to the blacklist of practices that are considered automatically unfair in all circumstances, and invitations to purchase that omit material information (including for example drip pricing practices) will be prohibited regardless of whether or not the practice influenced a consumer’s transactional decision-making. The Act will also set out specific new rules on subscription contracts and consumer savings schemes. Global businesses in every sector should review the way they offer their products and services to UK consumers.
*The DMCC Act received Royal Assent on 24 May 2024 and is now law. The majority of consumer law reforms will become effective on 6 April 2025, while the provisions on subscription contracts will follow in Spring 2026.
The CMA consultation on new draft direct consumer enforcement guidance closed on 18 September 2024 with final guidance anticipated in early April, while further guidance on the more complex elements of the prohibited practice of drip pricing is expected to be published in the Autumn (following consultation).
- assisting a number of clients during investigations by the CMA into alleged unfair sales, pricing and promotional practices in the hotels, groceries, anti-virus software, secondary ticketing, aviation and online travel booking sectors (among others)
- advising on a strategically important complaint to the UK Advertising Standards Authority alleging “greenwashing” in two adverts concerning net zero
- successfully representing a leading UK supermarket in a judicial review of a decision by the UK advertising regulator by another leading supermarket
- assisting an online platform with a CMA investigation into fake and misleading reviews
- advising on Gutmann v LSER & Ors and Gutmann v GTR & Ors, two opt-out collective actions in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (the CAT) in relation to the alleged misselling of specific rail tickets, known as “boundary fares”. The cases are at the forefront of the trend towards consumer protection issues being alleged to constitute abuses of dominance such that they can be made subject to collective proceedings in the CAT
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