CMA Launches Major Consumer Enforcement Drive Focused On Online Pricing Practices

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced a major package of action focussing on unlawful online pricing practices, including drip pricing and pressure selling, under the new regime following the introduction of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA). The message is clear - now is the time to audit your online pricing practices, particularly around mandatory fees, time-limited offers and default opt-ins.  

Since April when its new powers went live, the CMA has been conducting a major cross-economy review of more than 400 businesses in 19 different sectors to assess compliance with the rules on price transparency, identifying potential compliance concerns in 14 sectors such as drip pricing and the use of misleading countdown timers, which are banned commercial practices under the DMCCA. 

The investigations launched by the CMA on 18 November 2025, are the first enforcement cases opened using its new powers, which enable it to investigate whether consumer laws have been broken and directly enforce against infringements, rather than having to go through the courts. The CMA can now order businesses to pay compensation to affected customers as well as the discretion to fine companies up to 10% of global turnover if an infringement is found.  

Guidance on Unfair Commercial Practices: Price Transparency  

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (“CPRs”) was an important piece of legislation in the consumer protection framework that preceded the DMCCA. Whilst the CPRs already contained a prohibition on misleading commercial practices, the DMCCA introduced the new express prohibition on drip pricing specifically, making it easier for the CMA to enforce this area in particular. Failing to include mandatory charges upfront, introducing unavoidable fees at checkout, and presenting misleading headline prices excluding compulsory costs are all caught within this new prohibition. This explains why the CMA's current enforcement action and advisory letters target these specific breaches. 

The CMA published its finalised price transparency guidance on 18 November 2025, following consultation with businesses.  

The guidance makes clear that prices must not be misleading, and should include any fees, taxes, charges, or other payments that consumers will necessarily incur, with the total price presented at the outset wherever possible. This information must be provided to the consumer in a clear and timely way, and in such a way that the consumer is likely to see it.  

The guidance distinguishes between mandatory and optional charges. If consumers cannot purchase the advertised product without paying a charge, that charge is mandatory and must be included in the total price. Mandatory charges include VAT, administration fees, unavoidable service fees, delivery charges where collection is impossible, local taxes and resort fees, car rental pick-up fees, and gym joining fees. The guidance is particularly helpful in relation to when and how different delivery charges should be presented to the consumer. This can be a tricky area depending on the website or app interface and how delivery charges are calculated.   

In some cases, a trader may wish to offer an optional service in addition to the product which they are selling. This can be represented separately and does not have to be included in the headline price if it is genuinely optional.   

Where the nature of the product means that the whole or part of the total price cannot be reasonably calculated in advance, traders must provide information about how the price will be calculated, with as much prominence as the part of the total price that is calculable in advance. This exception commonly applies to products sold by weight, time, length or distance. Once the total price becomes calculable, it must be presented from that point onwards.  

CMA investigates eight businesses   

Building on its comprehensive review of pricing practices across the country, the CMA has opened eight investigations into businesses that it suspects to have infringed consumer law in relation to the use of fees, use of misleading time-limited offers and/or the practice of automatically opting consumers in for optional charges. More specifically:  

At this stage, the CMA has not reached any conclusions about whether the law has been broken in any of these investigations.   

The types of businesses under investigation demonstrates, however, the CMA’s willingness to expend its resources on investigating both large and smaller companies.  

Advisory Letters  

Alongside its enforcement investigations, the CMA is sending advisory letters to 100 businesses, outlining concerns about their use of additional fees and online sales tactics. These letters put businesses on notice that they must now review their practices and ensure they are in line with the law to avoid the risk of future enforcement action.  

The CMA will continue to engage with businesses in receipt of advisory letters to ensure they take the steps required to comply with the law.  

The CMA reviewed over 400 businesses and issued letters across 14 sectors including:  

Receiving a warning or advisory letter from the CMA doesn't mean a business has broken the law, but it means the CMA has concerns that should be addressed. It is crucial that businesses take them seriously. 

The next steps the CMA decides to take in terms of enforcement action are likely to depend in part on the business’s response to the letters issued. Businesses may ultimately face a higher financial penalty if they do not act on the concerns set out in the letter should a formal investigation find that they have breached consumer protection law.  

If you are on the receiving end of such a letter and unsure how to respond, or have any pricing questions in light of the CMA’s enforcement action, our consumer law team and consumer enforcement experts can help.