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1. Consumer law enforcement in the UK: what's the current state of play?
The UK has one of the toughest consumer law enforcement regimes in the world, with the prospect of fines of up to 10% of global turnover on B2C businesses for infringing UK consumer law and a raft of new powers for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), since the consumer law provisions of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) came into force on 6 April 2025. Now that we are almost 6 months into the new regime, we look at the latest state of play.
When can we expect the CMA to use its new enforcement powers?
The CMA is understood to be looking at potential cases for the first use of its new powers under the DMCCA. The lack of immediate action does not mean that the regulator intends to take a "softly softly" approach over the medium to longer term. From the CMA's perspective, it makes sense not to be over-hasty in terms of enforcement at a point where the mere introduction of the new regime may be sufficient to prompt at least some businesses to "raise their game" in terms of compliance. However, the regulator has been instructed by Government to make use of its new powers under the DMCCA – so as regards enforcement, the question is more "when" rather than "if".
From the regulator's perspective, the ideal "first case" would involve a reasonably high-profile business or sector and a serious breach of consumer law – enabling the CMA to impose a significant penalty and perhaps even make an order to compensate affected consumers. It will also want to be reasonably confident that its ultimate decision will stand a good chance of surviving any appeal – a significant reversal early on in the new regime could weaken its deterrent effect. In view of this, it's not particularly surprising that we are yet to see the CMA "flexing its muscles" in a significant way in the consumer protection space. Even so, as we highlight in section 2 below, the CMA has already begun the process of enforcing new rules on fake and misleading consumer reviews – having allowed businesses a 3-month grace period in which to comply.
What else should B2C businesses be watching out for?
Businesses targeting consumers in the UK should also be watching out for:
- Fake or misleading reviews: in our view, the
majority of B2C businesses are likely to need to take at least some
action to comply with the new rules in the DMCCA – see
section 2 below.
- Pricing guidance: as we explain in section 3
below, the CMA has been consulting on new guidance in this area and
the DMCCA makes it significantly easier for regulators to take
enforcement action on pricing.
- Subscription contracts: businesses need to plan ahead for the complex and prescriptive new DCMAA regime for subscription contracts, requiring B2C businesses to give consumers a 2-week "cancellation window" at least every 6 months and to send reminders ahead of any renewal payments. Although not expected to be brought into force until April 2026 at the earliest, it may necessitate changes to sign-up and customer relationship management processes. Look out for our briefing on this in the coming months.
What should B2C businesses be doing now?
With a substantial increase in the risk of non-compliance under of the DMCCA, consumer-facing businesses need to consider whether they are doing enough to limit their exposure. Key questions to ask include:
- Are we in a higher risk category? (see section 3 of this briefing)
- Are we sitting on any "ticking time bombs" in terms
of our existing practices and processes involving consumers? Just
because regulators have not seen fit to investigate in the past
doesn't mean they will adopt this approach in future, now that
they have much stronger powers at their disposal and a mandate from
Government to use them. Remember that the CMA is actively looking
for enforcement targets.
- Are our existing processes (e.g. customer sign-up) likely to
remain compliant and if not, how easy would it be upgrade them to
e.g. meet the new rules on subscription contracts or
misleading/fake reviews? Are there any longer term projects where
the specification may need to be adapted to take account of the
DMCC Act?
- Are relevant staff – particularly those in sales roles
– aware of the risks that infringing consumer law poses to
the business? Do staff need a refresher on what types of behaviour
or practices are likely to be problematic?
- Do we have a plan for how we would respond if investigated by the CMA for breaches of consumer law? The DMCC Act also significantly strengthens the CMA's investigatory powers and fines can be imposed for non-compliance with e.g. information requests.
2. Fake or misleading consumer reviews: time's running out to put your house in order
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) imposes new requirements on businesses to prevent the publication of fake reviews or misleading review information. It also prohibits the commissioning of fake reviews and the publication of "concealed incentivised reviews" (where the consumer was e.g. given the product for free in return for providing a review - but the incentivisation has not been made clear).
Who's affected by this?
Given the new duty to take "reasonable and proportionate steps" to prevent fake or misleading reviews, our view is that most B2C businesses will need to take at least some action to comply – even if they don't host reviews on their own websites, but rely instead on third party platforms such as Google, Trustpilot or specialist sectoral sites such as carehome.co.uk (for the eldercare sector). In the light of recent CMA guidance, most will also need to consider whether they should have a published policy on fake and misleading reviews – and it's worth noting that the CMA has recently conducted a "web sweep" to test compliance with this aspect. In over half the cases it looked at, B2C businesses either did not have a policy at all, or it was difficult to find and/or deficient in certain respects.
Our briefing Fake or misleading consumer reviews: time's running out to put your house in order explains the risks in more detail and provides a helpful checklist of issues to consider.
3. B2C businesses: are you at risk of misleading consumers on price?
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been consulting on draft guidance setting out how prices should be presented to consumers – including delivery charges, booking or admin fees, local taxes, joining fees and other sums that may make up the total price for a product or service. It is particularly concerned about misleading "headline" prices, which don't include additional charges that most consumers will end up having to pay.
Our briefing explains how the DMCCA tightens up the law in this area, in particular by making it significantly easier for regulators such as the CMA to enforce. It also explains some of the key issues you may want to consider when it comes to the price-related content of promotional material.
4. EU consumer law: what's the latest on the Digital Fairness Act?
The European Commission is planning to tighten up consumer protection on B2C e-commerce websites, apps and elsewhere in the online/digital space. Its consultation on a possible EU Digital Fairness Act, closes on 24 October 2025.
The Commission is particularly concerned about what it considers to be potentially manipulative practices by web or app designers e.g. biased framing of choices such "Yes sign me up" or "No, I don't want to make any savings". Other examples, sometimes known as "dark patterns", include:
- Forced registration in order to make purchases
- Infinite scroll feature
- Excessive and nagging notifications
- Discounts based on fake prior prices
- False purchase deadlines
- Countdown timers
- False low stock messages
- Gamification of purchases
- Peer pressure through false testimonials
A particular concern is that the EU could decide to adopt a much more prescriptive approach to the design of consumer-facing e-commerce interfaces and digital apps, limiting innovation and/or requiring design changes to existing online products/services.
The Shein investigation
In May 2025, the European Commission– in conjunction with national regulators – directed Shein to comply with EU consumer law and provide further information to assist its investigation into the firm's practices, many of which relate to the way that information is presented on its website or apps and tactics used to encourage consumers to make purchases. In June 2025, the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), together with 25 members from 21 countries, filed a formal complaint with the European Commission and other European consumer protection authorities relating to Shein's use of "dark patterns". Although this action is being taken under existing EU consumer protection law, the Commission appears to believe that the rules would benefit from being reviewed and strengthened.
5. Fines for directors and managers for breach of UK consumer law?
So far, attention has tended to focus on the significant penalties for businesses under the new consumer regime contained in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA). But the DMCCA also allows fines of up to £300,000 to be imposed on certain individuals – including directors and senior managers – based on their involvement in consumer law breaches. Our briefing explains what the legislation says and looks at when these powers might be exercised in practice.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
