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The UK Government published on 25 April 2023 its long-awaited Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill ("the Bill"). The Bill introduces radical new digital sector regulation and changes to existing competition and consumer regulation. This briefing provides an overview of the key issues affecting UK consumer protection law. For further details of the provisions relating to digital markets and UK competition law see our more detailed alert here.
The Bill proposes fundamental changes to the UK consumer protection enforcement regime. It will give the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) increased powers and flexibility to conduct faster and robust investigations. It will also replace the current UK legislation that controls unfair practices (Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008) and introduce new subscription rules.
We highlight some of the key proposed changes below:
Businesses offering consumer subscriptions will need to:
The expectation had been that the Bill would include new provisions to prevent the publication of fake online reviews. The Bill does not include these provisions but the Government press release indicates that new rules for the publication of reviews are still under consideration. There will be a further consultation that will look at new prohibitions on:
The Bill will now make its way through Parliament and will be debated in the House of Commons and House of Lords. It is possible that it will receive Royal Assent and enter the statute books by the end of the current Parliamentary session in Autumn 2023. We will continue to monitor the progress of the Bill.
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