DMCC Act 2024: Key Consumer Law Changes Ahead

The UK government has passed the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC Act), marking one of the most substantial overhauls of consumer protection law in over a decade. Coming into force in April 2025, this legislation is designed to tackle misleading business practices, increase fairness in digital marketplaces, and give regulators sharper tools to intervene when consumers are harmed.

The Act responds to longstanding concerns about aggressive or opaque marketing tactics in online commerce. With more consumers relying on digital platforms to make everyday purchases, the law targets areas that have historically escaped regulation—such as fake reviews, unclear pricing structures, and hard-to-cancel subscription contracts. For businesses, especially SMEs that trade online or use recurring billing models, the changes represent both a challenge and an opportunity to improve transparency and consumer trust.

 

Core Reforms Introduced by the DMCC Act

 

Drip Pricing Now Banned

One of the most high-profile reforms under the Act is the prohibition of drip pricing. This refers to the practice where consumers are shown an initial price, only to discover additional unavoidable fees—such as service charges, handling fees, or booking costs—added at later stages of the purchase process.

Under the new rules, any compulsory charges must be disclosed upfront, and the final price must be clear before the consumer makes a decision to buy. Businesses will no longer be allowed to present low headline prices only to inflate them with mandatory add-ons during checkout.

 

Fake Reviews and Deceptive Endorsements Outlawed

The DMCC Act introduces a ban on fake reviews and undisclosed paid endorsements. It becomes a breach of consumer law for businesses to:

 

• Create or commission fake reviews
• Host reviews they know or should know to be false
• Use endorsements or testimonials without declaring payment or sponsorship

 

This part of the legislation is intended to restore trust in online review ecosystems, which play a central role in influencing consumer decisions. Businesses are now required to take reasonable steps to ensure that reviews shown on their platforms or websites are genuine.

 

New Rules for Subscription Contracts

 

Recurring billing and subscription models—common in sectors like software, fitness, digital content, and e-commerce—are now under tighter control. The DMCC Act mandates that:

 

• Key terms of subscription agreements must be disclosed clearly at the point of sign-up
• Renewal notices must be sent before auto-renewals take effect
• Consumers must be able to cancel subscriptions easily and without unreasonable friction
• Cooling-off periods apply, allowing users to exit new contracts within a defined window

 

The law aims to prevent “subscription traps” where consumers unintentionally remain locked into rolling contracts due to a lack of clarity or barriers to cancellation.

 

Stronger Enforcement Powers for the CMA

 

Perhaps the most consequential shift lies in the enhanced powers granted to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Previously, most consumer protection enforcement required legal proceedings. Now, the CMA can:

 

• Investigate suspected breaches of consumer law directly
• Issue compliance notices and fines of up to 10% of a business’s global turnover
• Require businesses to compensate affected consumers
• Compel companies to substantiate any advertising or marketing claims

 

This reform transforms the CMA into a far more proactive regulator, capable of swift intervention when businesses are found to be misleading or exploiting consumers.

 

What Does This Mean for Me? – Business Impact for UK SMEs

 

Greater Scrutiny for Digital Sales Models

For SMEs that operate e-commerce platforms or use digital marketing, the Act demands a top-to-bottom review of sales journeys. Pricing transparency must now be fully embedded in online checkouts, and any “extra” costs—delivery, service, admin fees—must be included in the advertised price where mandatory.

The era of upselling through hidden costs is over. Failure to comply could result not only in loss of consumer trust but also significant regulatory penalties.

 

Reputation Management and Review Integrity

If your business relies on social proof—reviews, ratings, testimonials—you must now be able to prove their authenticity. This may mean vetting review partners, verifying customer feedback, and putting monitoring processes in place. Any form of paid endorsement must be transparently disclosed.

Review platforms, aggregators, and businesses that run their own testimonial systems need to build trust the right way or risk falling foul of the new legal standards.

 

Subscription Businesses Must Adapt or Risk Losing Customers

Companies offering subscription services must prepare for stricter regulation of renewals, cancellations, and sign-up clarity. The most immediate impact will be operational—rewriting contracts, redesigning cancellation flows, and integrating reminder systems.

Businesses that make it hard for customers to cancel or that rely on inertia to retain subscribers will need to pivot. Transparency and ease of exit are now legal expectations.

 

Tougher Regulatory Environment

For all businesses, the shift in the CMA’s role from reactive enforcer to proactive regulator represents a cultural change. SMEs are no longer shielded from scrutiny by their size. The new enforcement model allows regulators to impose significant fines quickly and requires companies to show compliance even before wrongdoing is formally established.

This may require legal advice, regular consumer law audits, and internal training—particularly for marketing, customer service, and IT teams.

 

Conclusion

 

The DMCC Act 2024 sets a new benchmark for consumer rights and regulatory accountability in the UK. It reinforces the importance of fairness, transparency, and genuine engagement in all business-to-consumer interactions—especially online.

For UK businesses, and SMEs in particular, the message is clear: prioritise clarity, respect consumer choice, and ensure marketing and pricing strategies are not just persuasive, but legally compliant. The businesses that embrace this shift will earn trust, loyalty, and long-term advantage in an increasingly values-driven market. Those that ignore it risk reputational damage, legal costs, and exclusion from a more transparent digital economy.