10 months ago, in April 2025, something fundamental changed in how we protect consumers in the UK. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) came into force , giving the CMA new powers to directly enforce consumer law and deliver more effective consumer protection. The significance of this shift is reflected by the attendance here today, and that this being the first consumer conference organise...
10 months ago, in April 2025, something fundamental changed in how we protect consumers in the UK. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) came into force , giving the CMA new powers to directly enforce consumer law and deliver more effective consumer protection. The significance of this shift is reflected by the attendance here today, and that this being the first consumer conference organised by Global Competition Review (GCR). Thank you very much for inviting me to speak. I am confident it will be a day of productive debate and discussion. The DMCCA marked a genuine shift. For the first time, the CMA can decide whether consumer protection laws have been infringed instead of having to litigate through the courts. We can tackle breaches directly and efficiently, and issue penalties where we find a breach, protecting consumers from harm and also, crucially, fostering a level playing field for fair-dealing businesses. When businesses can grow and invest, knowing competitors cannot gain an unfair advantage by breaking the law, and when consumers can spend with increased confidence knowing the CMA is safeguarding their interests, we create the conditions for economic growth. Consumer protection isn’t just about preventing harm, as important as that is. It is also about building the trust that makes markets work for everyone. So today, 10 months into the new regime, I want to share what we set out to achieve, what we’ve delivered, and give a hint at what lies ahead. Championing consumers is at the heart of everything we do From the outset, we were clear that strengthening consumers’ trust and confidence was essential to deliver effective consumer protection under the new regime. Supporting businesses to do the right thing by their customers and taking robust enforcement action when they don’t is vital for consumer confidence. We target conduct that is especially harmful, taking particular care to prevent harm in areas of essential spend and at moments of vulnerability. It has also been a priority to give businesses confidence that they understand: what conduct is unacceptable what they need to do to comply that competitors are playing by the same rules Businesses should also have confidence that where we do investigate, and I appreciate that no organisation wants to be in that position, we will be clear about the process and conduct it efficiently and proportionately. To deliver this vision, we committed to a strategic approach built around the CMA’s 4Ps: pace, predictability, proportionality and process . These principles ensure that our consumer protection work, and indeed our other work, is delivered efficiently, has impact and enhances business and investor confidence in the UK’s competition and consumer regimes. They have guided everything we have done over the past 10 months and will continue to guide our future actions. Engagement and guidance Allow me to address engagement and guidance first. As I said, businesses that comply with the law lead to good outcomes for consumers. Since April, we’ve heard feedback from hundreds of businesses about our plans for consumer protection work and the changes they can expect. Our approach to consumer protection launch event was attended by over 200 people. We’ve connected with around 500 different interested parties since then, from businesses and trade associations to consumer groups, advisors and other enforcers, setting out our vision and what it means for different stakeholders. We run webinars, hold roundtable events, and maintain ongoing dialogue through forums like the CMA’s Growth and Investment Council . Our new Consumer Forum brings together key organisations to represent the voices of UK consumers to keep them at the heart of our work. But engagement alone isn’t enough. Businesses told us they need easy access to relevant compliance information in a simple, digestible form. We have therefore been systematically refreshing our business-facing guidance and producing materials to help businesses navigate the new regime. Since April, we’ve published 8 new or improved guidance documents on a wide range of topics, from procedural guidance on how to navigate the regime , to large cross cutting pieces such as our unfair commercial practices guidance to short explainers on our Green Claims Code to help businesses understand supply chain responsibility when making green claims. We’ve also invested in making existing guidance more accessible. When we refreshed our resource page for social media reviews and endorsements , views increased by 660%. That demonstrates the difference that clear, accessible guidance makes. I invite all of you to look at these resources and we welcome feedback on what’s working, what’s not and where we can do more. A practical example: fake reviews Let me give you a concrete example of how our approach to supporting businesses works in practice: fake reviews. The DMCCA introduced new banned practices relating to fake reviews. We published comprehensive guidance in April, but recognised that businesses would need time to digest it and make necessary changes. So we allowed a 3-month adjustment period during which we would support businesses with their compliance efforts, rather than prioritising enforcement action. In July, 3 months later, we conducted a web-sweep of over 100 businesses to check their compliance with certain parts of the new law. We found that more than half might need to do more. Some appeared to have no policy in place banning fake reviews. Others did have policies, but they were unclear, incomplete or inaccessible. We could have immediately launched enforcement action, but we didn’t. Instead we offered support. We sent advisory letters to over 50 businesses, clearly explaining what the new law required. We ran a webinar attended by more than 200 businesses and advisors. The response was overwhelmingly positive: approximately 90% of those who engaged told us they had made changes 75% reported better understanding of the rules a major UK retailer described our approach as ‘genuinely helpful’ This is proportionality and process in action - giving businesses the information they need, the time to implement changes (where it’s right to do so), and support to get it right. Consumers benefit as a result. And that’s critical – that’s why we are here to drive benefits for consumers. Supporting fair-dealing businesses Before I move on – I should note that our support goes beyond guidance. We’ve made it easier for fair-dealing businesses to report competitors who are breaking the rules, because they lose out when others gain an unfair advantage. We have launched an enhanced complaints process and new complaints guide specifically for businesses to alert us to suspected breaches. If you have concerns about conduct in your industry, I encourage you to review these resources. Enforcement with impact But let’s be clear. It’s not all about support. Because alongside the carrot, there’s the stick. And that’s crucial – it’s what has been lacking for a long time under the previous enforcement regime. We do absolutely want to support the vast majority of businesses who work hard to do the right thing by their customers. But for the minority who don’t, we need enforcement that’s swift, decisive and effective. In November, following a review of more than 400 businesses across 19 sectors, we opened our first direct enforcement cases into 8 businesses , targeting harmful online practices, including drip pricing and pressure selling. We signaled at the start of the regime that we would target these areas, so it should come as no surprise that we did so. When we say we’ll act – we act. At the same time, we sent 100 advisory letters to businesses across 14 sectors, from holidays and homeware to gyms and ticketing, urging them to review their practices or risk future action. The response has been positive and we’ve already seen some businesses change their behaviour. But make no mistake, more change is needed and you can expect further action. Building our evidence base Over the past 10 months, we’ve been monitoring practices across the economy to ensure we efficiently target the most problematic conduct. We’ve tracked and captured evidence involving significant numbers of businesses across a wide range of sectors. We’ve collaborated with our Digital Technology and Innovation AI team to leverage cutting-edge tools to identify and capture evidence of potential infringements at pace and scale. And we’ve deployed our formal information-gathering powers, which allow us to require businesses to give us information prior to publicly launching a case. We’ve issued 29 targeted information requests to businesses to build a picture of their practices. We’ve engaged directly with others on refund rights, potentially unfair terms and misleading claims, making clear that we can act if our concerns aren’t addressed. Our work on fake reviews continues at pace. We’ve reviewed over 200 pieces of intelligence and written to several businesses in the online reviews sector setting out our initial concerns. We’ve also continued cases that were opened before the DMCCA powers came into force, making sure shoppers get clear, honest information when shopping on major platforms like Google, Amazon and Ticketmaster. What’s next In the coming months, we’ll give updates on our live cases as they progress at pace. More enforcement will follow where we see the need to protect consumers and fair-dealing businesses. In line with our annual plan, which we are consulting on at present , we’ll continue prioritising action in areas of essential spend to help people struggling with pressure on household budgets, focusing our action on more egregious practices where the law is clear. You can expect further action on fake reviews, unfair contract terms and drip pricing for businesses that have not shifted their behaviour. As you would expect, we will keep monitoring compliance across the economy, including using cutting-edge technology and AI to detect non-compliance. We’ll also continue our extensive engagement with businesses and consumers and we’ll keep refining our guidance where needed, helping businesses understand their obligations and comply with confidence. To conclude 10 months into this new regime, and reflecting on the commitments we made. We have supported businesses to comply with the law driving better outcomes for consumers using tools that have fallen short of enforcement. We have taken enforcement action in the areas we signalled were priorities including in essential areas of household spend. We’ve worked at pace, with predictability, proportionately, and through direct engagement. We’re starting to see the deterrent effect we hoped for. Businesses are taking a proactive interest in consumer protection issues, regardless of their sector. They’re investing in training, reviewing their practices, and seeking advice when they’re unsure – conferences like this support businesses to do exactly that. But there is more to come. The DMCCA has given us powerful new tools to uphold consumer rights. We will continue to use those tools thoughtfully, strategically and effectively as we pursue our objective to protect people from harm and help businesses do the right thing by their customers.
Speech Brief