DMCC – Is the CMA starting to flex its muscles?

The CMA has opened investigations into eight businesses and sent advisory letters to 100 others over online pricing practices and possible breaches of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC).

Background

Since the 6 April 2025, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has increased enforcement powers in relation to consumer law. We discussed the CMAs new powers, which include the ability to impose fines of up to 10% of global turnover, in our previous article. Since April, the CMA has been monitoring more than 400 businesses across different sectors to assess compliance with the rules on price transparency.

CMA activity

These investigations represent the first enforcement cases using its new powers which enable the CMA to determine whether consumer laws have been broken, rather than having to go to court.

The investigations, detailed here, relate to pricing practices including (i) mandatory additional charges on secondary ticketing sites (and whether or not these are included upfront), (ii) misleading time-limited offers, (iii) default opt-ins for optional fees, and (iv) one-off joining fees.

Drip-pricing (where a headline price is initially shown to consumers, but mandatory charges are added later during the purchasing process) is an unfair commercial practice under the DMCC. A report by DBT found that drip pricing was particularly prevalent regarding event tickets (93% of the businesses reviewed), cinema tickets (69%), and gym memberships (60%) – all areas where the CMA has now taken action.

The advisory letters sent to 100 businesses, outline concerns about the use of additional fees and online sales tactics and include businesses in various sectors, including homeware retailers, holidays / travel, gym and fitness, driving schools, rail travel, parking, delivery companies, and online vouchers.

What do I need to do now?

Businesses should review their pricing practices to ensure compliance. The CMAs newly-published and updated pricing transparency guidance and unfair commercial practices guidance are useful for businesses that want to avoid scrutiny and potential enforcement action.