DMCC Act ushers in tougher rules on fake reviews and hidden fees
Updated: Sep 1
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC) continues to reshape the rules of digital marketing in the UK, handing the Competition and Markets Authority direct powers to enforce consumer protection law. Crucially, the regulator can now act without going through the courts — and can levy fines of up to 10% of global turnover for serious breaches.
Several of the changes land squarely in the marketing department. The Act introduces a crackdown on fake and incentivised reviews, tighter rules on “drip pricing” where additional fees appear late in the checkout process, and clearer requirements around how subscriptions are sold and cancelled. Brands are expected to ensure reviews are genuine, pricing is transparent from the outset, and promotional claims can be substantiated.
What marketers should do now
The practical response is to audit the areas most exposed: review-collection practices, the way prices and fees are displayed, and the full subscription journey from sign-up to cancellation. With enforcement now faster and penalties steeper, the cost of getting these details wrong has risen sharply.
Seen another way, the Act is also an opportunity. In a market where trust is hard won, brands that are visibly transparent about pricing, reviews and terms can turn compliance into a genuine point of difference.
The end of the grey area
For years, practices such as burying fees until the final checkout screen, nudging happy customers for reviews while quietly discouraging critical ones, or making subscriptions far easier to start than to stop have sat in a legal grey area — frowned upon but rarely punished. The DMCC Act removes that ambiguity. With the CMA now able to investigate, rule and fine on its own authority, the calculus for cutting corners has changed fundamentally.
The scale of the potential penalties is the headline deterrent. A fine of up to 10% of global turnover is not a cost of doing business; for most companies it is an existential threat. That alone should be enough to move consumer-protection compliance from a legal afterthought to a board-level priority, with marketing squarely in the frame given how many of the rules touch advertising, pricing and customer journeys.
The smartest brands will go beyond mere compliance. In a landscape where consumers are increasingly wary of manipulation, visible honesty — clear all-in pricing, authentic reviews, frictionless cancellation — becomes a marketing asset in its own right. Trust, hard to build and easy to lose, is fast becoming one of the most valuable things a brand can offer, and the DMCC Act has just raised the reward for earning it.
— Dimitro Cohen, Technology & Ad-Tech Correspondent at Marketing Minute
For marketers, the DMCC Act reframes compliance as a trust opportunity. Transparent pricing, genuine reviews and honest journeys aren't just legal requirements — they're a competitive advantage.
Is your marketing fully ready for the DMCC Act — or is there still work to do on reviews, pricing and subscriptions?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Related reading
Comments