U.K. Law to Make Sweeping Changes to Digital Markets and Consumer Protection

The U.K. Digital Markets, Competition & Consumers Act (DMCC) passed in May is expected to enter into force this Autumn and will:

1. Introduce very significant reforms to the consumer protection regime, including by giving the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) new powers to impose fines of up to 10% of global turnover for breaches of consumer protection law and by bringing in new rules governing subscription contracts, fake reviews and “drip pricing”.
2. Make important changes to the existing competition regime, including revisions to the merger control thresholds, broadening the scope of the Chapter 1 prohibition against anti-competitive agreements and increasing the investigatory powers of the CMA.
3. Create a new digital markets regime targeting some of the largest tech companies.

With the DMCC now final, there is much that businesses can do over the next few months to prepare for the DMCC’s entry into force.  In this article we highlight some of the main points to consider.