Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act becomes law

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act has now received Royal Assent and become law in the UK. This new legislation aims to protect consumers and promote fair competition, particularly targeting large technology companies.

Here’s a summary of the key points of the Act:

Consumer Protection:

• Clearer Subscriptions: Businesses must provide transparent information about subscription costs, remind consumers when trials are ending, and make it easy to cancel subscriptions.
• Hidden Fees: All costs, including any hidden fees, must be clearly stated upfront. This should end the problem in online shopping of being caught by unexpected charges when checking out.
• Fake Reviews: The Act bans fake reviews, ensuring consumers can trust the feedback they see online.

Empowering Regulators:

• Competition and Markets Authority (CMA): The CMA now has more power to stop big tech companies from unfairly disadvantaging competitors and consumers.
• Market Conduct: The CMA can set specific rules for powerful tech companies to ensure fair treatment of users and competition.

Penalties:

• Companies that break these rules could face significant fines, potentially in the tens of billions of pounds.
• The CMA can enforce these rules directly, ensuring swift action against violators.

Additional Oversight:

• The Act also gives new powers to the CMA to monitor road fuel prices to help prevent any malpractice in that sector.

In essence, this Act is designed to create a fairer, more transparent market environment, especially in the digital space, benefiting both consumers and businesses by ensuring honest practices and fair competition.

See: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/digital-markets-competition-and-consumers-act-receives-royal-assent