The UK Government is consulting on further changes to consumer protection law, including measures to tackle hidden fees, drip pricing and fake reviews, which have particular relevance for online businesses. As we explain below, the consultation also covers online platforms, the ability for consumers to claim damages for unfair practices and measures which are also relevant to bricks and mortar retailers, including rules on unit pricing and price promotions.

What's the background and why is this important?

The Government is in the process of reforming significant aspects of UK consumer protection law, through the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill which is currently before Parliament; for more detail, see our earlier briefing. As part of this package of reforms, it also promised to consult in more detail on a number of additional issues, including fake reviews and various pricing issues. Businesses may wish to respond to the consultation – which closes on 15 October – because, depending on how they are implemented, some of the proposed measures could prove burdensome to comply with in practice.

Fake reviews

As expected, the consultation proposes to make it an unfair practice to submit a fake review or commission or incentivise any person to write or submit a fake review. However, businesses will also be expected to take "reasonable and proportionate steps" to prevent consumers being exposed to fake reviews or any information (such as aggregated ratings) which may have become misleading as a result of fake reviews. The key question here is what lengths businesses will be expected to go to. Whilst the consultation promises that the Competition and Markets Authority will produce guidance on this point, it seems likely that some measure of proactivity is envisaged and that it will not be sufficient to have purely reactive "notice and takedown" procedures.

The Government is also proposing to prohibit traders from misrepresenting reviews; it envisages that this would outlaw practices such as deleting or suppressing negative reviews, only publishing positive reviews and applying different weightings to reviews based on the source consumer.

Hidden fees and drip pricing

Drip pricing refers to the practice of only informing the consumer about additional charges later on in the purchase process – for example, just before the checkout stage of an online transaction– by which point the consumer may well be less inclined to abandon the transaction and seek a better price elsewhere. The consultation makes a distinction between mandatory charges and optional ones, suggesting that the case for tightening up the law is stronger in respect of the former. However, it also notes that optional fees can sometimes have a distorting effect – for example, if most retailers include the cost of say, batteries, in the price for a particular type of device, a supplier which charges extra for them may at first sight appear to be cheaper (which may be misleading).

Although there is a reasonable argument that the law as it stands is sufficient to tackle these practices, the Government appears to be minded to take at least some steps to tighten it up – for example, by expressly prohibiting certain pricing practices involving additional fees.

Redress for unfair practices

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations (CPRs) outlaw a wide range of behaviour, particularly around the sales practices adopted by businesses when dealing with consumers. However, at present, consumers can only claim damages or other forms of redress for e.g. misselling where the conduct involved either a "misleading action" or an "aggressive action". The Government is consulting on whether the right to redress should be extended to misleading omissions, breach of the general obligation on businesses to use "professional diligence" and any blacklisted practice as set out in Schedule 1 to the CPRs.

Whilst it is relatively rare for individual consumers to resort to court action, we are seeing more instances of group litigation on behalf of large numbers of consumers – a recent example being claims brought against vehicle manufacturers over the diesel emissions scandal. An extension of rights of redress would provide further legal bases for claims of this type.

For more discussion of group litigation/collective claims more generally, see our Dispute Resolution Yearbook.

Online platforms

The Government is seeking views on whether online marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay should do more to minimise the risk of rogue traders selling on their platforms. The consultation makes it clear that the Government regards these platforms as being responsible – under current consumer protection law - for unfair practices which stem from the actions of traders selling on their websites. Whilst any changes here will impact primarily on the platforms themselves, they could have a knock-on effect on other businesses e.g. they may prompt platform operators to change the terms on which they allow those other businesses to use their marketplaces.

Display of pricing information

The Government is also considering the following measures which will affect bricks-and-mortar retailers (although the first two will affect online retailers as well):

  • Unit pricing: Mandating unit prices on certain products so that consumers can compare similar items more easily and tightening up requirements on legibility and prominence. This will be particularly significant in the grocery sector.

  • Offers and promotions: Tightening up requirements on offers such as multi-buys or loyalty card discounts, again so that consumers can more easily compare the cost of similar items. One concern here is that some promotions do not give an actual promotional selling price but merely state that e.g. there is a 10% saving with a loyalty card. Another concern is that unit pricing is not always given in relation to the promotional price, making comparisons more difficult.

  • Small shops exemption: Shops with a relevant floor area not exceeding 280 square metres are exempt from some aspects of the current pricing legislation. The Government is consulting on whether this remains appropriate, particularly for small shops belonging to national chains.

  • Deposit return schemes: the Government is proposing to introduce a deposit return scheme for drinks containers (both bottles and cans) in October 2025. As regards pricing, the Government is proposing that the deposit cost should be displayed separately from the price of the drink.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.