CMA Launches Three Further Drip Pricing Investigations Under The DMCC Act Consumer Protection Regime

On 19 August 2026 the CMA launched three further investigations under the DMCC Act consumer protection regime over concerns that consumers were not shown the total price upfront when buying train tickets, holidays or driving lessons.

• Trainline is being investigated over whether all mandatory fees were included in the upfront price displayed to consumers when buying train and coach tickets on the Trainline app and website
• Virgin Atlantic is under investigation over whether mandatory resort fees and local taxes were included in the upfront prices shown for package holidays
• RED Driving school is under investigation over how a mandatory booking fee and a digital fee have been displayed to customers booking driving lessons

Under the DMCC Act consumer protection regime drip pricing (where consumers are shown an initial base price with additional fees only revealed once they proceed to checkout) is treated as an omission of material information from an invitation to purchase, which is one of the unfair commercial practices that will always be prohibited, regardless of their impact on the average consumer’s decision. 

In November 2025 the CMA launched its first investigations under the new regime (see our blogpost here) with five of the eight investigations focused on drip pricing. The CMA also sent advisory letters to around a hundred businesses flagging its concerns around drip pricing and putting the recipients on notice to review their practices to ensure they comply with the law. The three businesses subject to the latest investigations had all received such advisory letters.

The CMA has so far concluded three of its drip pricing investigations:

• In April 2026 the CMA adopted an infringement decision in relation to the AA and BSM Driving Schools (owned by the Automobile Association Development Limited) for failing to include a mandatory booking fee of £3 in the initial price displayed for driving lessons. The CMA imposed a fine of £4.2 million (reflecting a 40% reduction for settling the case early including an admission of wrongdoing). The CMA also imposed consumer redress measures resulting in a payment of more than £760,000 to over 80,000 consumers.
• In June 2026 the CMA imposed a fine of £900,000 on ticketing site StubHub for failure to include certain mandatory costs such as delivery and service fees in the headline price shown at the start. StubHub also entered into settlement with the CMA, engaging constructively with the CMA during the investigation and admitting a breach of the law, for which it received a 40% reduction to its penalty. The company has also been ordered to issue refunds to more than 50,000 customers, exceeding £590,000. 

In addition to the latest drip pricing investigations, the cases against ticketing platform viagogo (over whether certain mandatory charges were not included in the upfront price) and Gold’sGym (over how it presents a one-off joining fee, which is not included in the advertised membership costs but is introduced part-way through the sign-up process) also remain ongoing.

Clear and accurate pricing for consumers is one of the CMA's priorities under its consumer protection regime, as it is important for consumer trust and confidence and also ensures that businesses are competing on a level playing field. The latest investigations confirm that this is indeed a key priority for the CMA and businesses should carefully consider and review their pricing practices to make sure that they comply with the unfair commercial practices provisions of the DMCC Act. The CMA’s guidance on price transparency which expands on the key concepts such as the distinction between mandatory charges and optional charges and are further illustrated with practical worked examples, should be used here as a starting point.

On 9 August 2026 the UK Government also announced that it will launch a consultation later this autumn to assess whether other pricing practices such as fake “was” prices, invented discounts and misleading recommended retail prices should be added to the list of practices that are automatically unfair under the DMCC Act consumer protection regime. The Government is keen to use the DMCC Act as a tool to address cost of living issues and pricing practices are clearly set to remain a key priority for both the CMA and the Government.