Overview of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (c. 13) is a legislative framework enacted by the UK Parliament to address unfair practices and foster competition in digital markets. It amends existing laws, including the Competition Act 1998 and the Enterprise Act 2002, to introduce stricter regulations and enforcement mechanisms. The act aligns with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act but operates independently within the UK’s jurisdiction. Its primary objective is to empower the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to regulate firms designated as having strategic market status, ensuring fair market practices and protecting consumer rights.
The act received royal assent on 24 May 2024, following its Third Reading in the House of Lords on 26 March 2024. While administrative provisions are already in force, the full implementation of the act depends on the Secretary of State issuing a commencement order. This delay allows for preparatory measures to ensure effective enforcement once the regulations take full effect.
Key Provisions and Consumer Protections
One of the act’s significant contributions is the introduction of comprehensive consumer protections, particularly in digital subscription services. It mandates that businesses provide clear information before consumers sign up for subscriptions, including details about contract terms, auto-renewal policies, and cancellation procedures. Consumers are now entitled to regular reminders before trials or long-term contracts (12 months or more) auto-renew, ensuring transparency and reducing unintended renewals.
The act also establishes a 14-day cooling-off period for consumers who wish to cancel subscriptions after a trial or auto-renewal. During this period, consumers can exit contracts without penalties, provided they follow the prescribed cancellation process.
The legislation explicitly bans several deceptive practices that have proliferated in digital markets. These include subscription traps, where consumers are unaware of recurring charges or are locked into unfavorable terms, fake reviews, which can mislead consumers about product quality or service reliability, and drip pricing, a tactic where the full cost of a product or service is disclosed only after additional fees are added incrementally. The ban on fake reviews extends to those generated by AI, addressing a growing concern in e-commerce where synthetic content can distort market perceptions.
Regulatory Powers and Strategic Market Status
The act grants the CMA direct fining powers and the authority to designate firms as having strategic market status. This status is applied to companies that hold significant influence in digital markets, such as Google, which has already been subject to regulations under this framework. For instance, Google’s search engine and AI Overviews have been scrutinized to ensure compliance with fair competition standards. The CMA’s Digital Markets Unit is tasked with monitoring these firms and intervening where necessary to prevent anti-competitive behavior or harm to consumers.
The CMA has indicated its intention to deploy the act’s new digital markets powers in specific sectors where competition is deemed insufficient. In July 2025, the authority signaled potential action in the UK cloud infrastructure services market, suggesting that the act’s provisions will be actively used to address market failures and promote healthier competition.
The act also includes measures to restrict foreign state influence in UK media, a provision introduced during the Third Reading in the House of Lords. This amendment aims to safeguard the integrity of media outlets by preventing undue control or interference from foreign entities, thereby preserving the independence and trustworthiness of news and information disseminated to the public.
Relationship with Existing Legislation and Future Implications
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 builds on existing regulatory frameworks, such as the Electronic Commerce Regulations 2002 and the Online Safety Act 2023. While these acts address specific aspects of digital commerce and online safety, the new legislation provides a broader and more integrated approach to competition and consumer protection in digital markets.
The act’s provisions are designed to be future-proof, accounting for emerging challenges in digital markets, including those posed by AI-generated content. By explicitly addressing fake reviews—whether human-generated or AI-driven—the legislation sets a precedent for how synthetic media and automated deception will be regulated. This forward-looking stance ensures that the UK remains at the forefront of digital regulation, capable of adapting to technological advancements while protecting consumers and fostering fair competition.
Required actions
- Firms with strategic market status must follow CMA conduct requirements, including on ranking, data use and AI-powered search features - Publishing or commissioning fake reviews, including AI-generated ones, is an automatically unfair commercial practice - Subscription and drip-pricing rules apply to AI services