By Emma Lewis, bOnline
Starting this month, businesses operating in the UK must adhere to the newly introduced Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA). It received royal assent on the 24th May 2024, and has now come into force.
The DMCCA signals some important changes to UK competition law and consumer protection. It’s basically a comprehensive law designed to boost consumer rights and stamp out shady commercial tactics.
This Act replaces the previous Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations and kicked in on the 6th April 2025. A lot of the older framework has stayed the same, but there are some key updates too. Two of the big ones to be aware of is a massive crackdown on fake reviews and drip pricing. This is a strategy used to hide extra charges until later on in the buying process.
What You Need to Know
As a business, there are a couple of key updates to be aware of:
Fake Reviews Are Now Completely Banned
Businesses are no longer allowed to:
- Pay for any reviews or post fake ones
- Hide when a review has been incentivised
- Ignore or fail to remove fake or misleading reviews once they are known about
- Display real reviews but in a misleading context
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All Fees Must Be Clear Upfront
The Act also aims to stop something called “drip pricing.” This is where consumers are shown a low initial price, only to be hit with extra costs when they come to checkout.
Now, any Invitation to Purchase (ITP), that is, anything that displays product information and pricing must clearly show the total cost upfront. This includes:
- Online listings
- Store adverts and store tags
- Adverts on TV, posters and in magazines
Even if the product isn’t available to buy immediately, the price must be as transparent as possible so it supports consumers in making a decision.
Reminder Notices
The new rules state that to help reduce “zombie” subscriptions, telecoms providers must send reminder notices about renewals. These reminders must include details about:
- How much the renewal payment will be
- When it must be paid
- How the new amount differs from the last renewal payment
- When the next renewal payment will be due
- How the contract can be ended so you can avoid having to pay the renewal payment
What Happens If A Company Doesn’t Comply?
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) now has the power to directly enforce these new rules. That means it can step in without going through the courts and give out stiff penalties of up to:
- 10% of a company’s global turnover, or
- £300,000, whichever is greater
So if you run a business that engages with consumers, now is a very good time to check you’re compliant.
What About the Old Rules?
The old consumer protection rules still apply to incidents that happened before the 6th April 2025. After that, the new Act takes over. If you’re dealing with an unfair practice from before that date, the old rules and guidelines are still valid for the moment.
This new law puts huge weight behind fair and honest treatment of consumers; particularly online. Whether you’re running a small online shop or a large e-commerce site, it’s essential to keep your practices completely above board and transparent.
Just so you know, some further updates (including some related to consumer savings schemes) are expected to come into force on the 1st January 2026. After that, some additional consumer protections around subscription contracts are also expected to begin in the Spring of 2026.