The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 — usually shortened to the DMCC Act — is one of the most significant overhauls of UK consumer and competition law in years. It does two big things at once: it creates a new regime for the most powerful digital platforms, and it modernises everyday consumer protection in ways that touch almost every business that sells to the public. This explainer focuses on the parts marketers and ordinary businesses most need to understand.
This article is general information, not legal advice. For your specific obligations, consult GOV.UK, the Competition and Markets Authority, or a qualified legal adviser.
What the DMCC Act is
The DMCC Act is a UK law, passed in 2024, that strengthens competition rules for large digital firms and overhauls consumer protection across the wider economy. It has three broad pillars:
- Digital markets. A new regime, run by the CMA's Digital Markets Unit, allowing tighter rules for a small number of firms with "Strategic Market Status" — the largest tech platforms.
- Competition. Updates to merger and antitrust powers and penalties.
- Consumer protection. A wide-ranging modernisation of the rules on how businesses treat consumers — the part with the broadest reach.
For most small and medium businesses, the third pillar is what matters day to day. It is closely related to the broader idea that, increasingly, compliance can be a competitive advantage rather than just a cost.
A major shift: how consumer law is enforced
Before the DMCC Act, the CMA generally had to take a business to court to enforce consumer protection law. The Act changes that. The Competition and Markets Authority can now decide that a business has breached consumer law directly, and impose penalties — reportedly up to substantial percentages of global turnover for the most serious breaches.
The headline change is not just new rules, but new teeth. The CMA can act directly and fine heavily, which raises the stakes for getting consumer-facing practices right.
That enforcement shift is why the Act is being taken so seriously in boardrooms and marketing departments alike.
What changes for marketers
Three areas of marketing practice are squarely in scope.
Fake and incentivised reviews
The Act makes it a banned practice to:
- Write, commission or submit fake reviews.
- Publish reviews without taking reasonable steps to check they are genuine.
- Present incentivised reviews (where someone was paid or rewarded) as if they were independent.
Businesses that host reviews are expected to have systems to prevent and remove fake ones. For any brand that relies on social proof, this means auditing how reviews are collected and displayed, and being honest about gifted or sponsored feedback. It dovetails with the disclosure rules covered in our guide to ASA advertising rules in the UK.
Drip pricing and hidden fees
"Drip pricing" — where compulsory charges appear only as you move through checkout — is directly targeted. The Act requires that mandatory fees are included in the headline price shown to consumers. Genuinely optional extras can still be added later, but unavoidable charges cannot be hidden until the last step. Pricing pages, booking flows and ad creative all need to reflect the true, all-in price up front. This sits alongside the broader case for transparent pricing as both a legal and a trust matter.
Subscriptions and "subscription traps"
The Act introduces clearer rules for subscription contracts, aimed at the so-called subscription trap. Expect requirements around:
- Clear pre-contract information about what people are signing up to, including price and renewal.
- Reminders before a subscription renews or a free trial converts to paid.
- Easy cancellation — making it as simple to leave as it was to join.
| Practice | Old norm | DMCC expectation |
|---|---|---|
| Fake reviews | Loosely policed | Banned; platforms must act |
| Hidden fees | Common at checkout | Must be in headline price |
| Auto-renewals | Easy in, hard out | Reminders + easy cancellation |
What businesses should do
You do not need to be a lawyer to take sensible steps. Practical priorities include:
- Audit your reviews. Remove anything fake, and clearly label incentivised or gifted content.
- Check your pricing displays. Make sure unavoidable charges are in the first price a customer sees.
- Review subscription journeys. Confirm sign-up is clear, renewals are flagged, and cancellation is genuinely easy.
- Train your marketing team. The people writing ads and building checkout flows need to know the rules.
- Document your processes. Being able to show you took reasonable steps matters if you are ever questioned.
For founders building new ventures, these considerations fit naturally into the wider task of starting a business in the UK, where getting consumer-facing practices right from day one is far easier than retrofitting them later.
Why it matters beyond compliance
It is tempting to read the DMCC Act purely as a burden. The more useful framing is that it raises the floor for honesty in the market — and businesses that already price transparently, collect genuine reviews and treat subscribers fairly have little to fear and plenty to gain. Marketing consultancy CM Beyer makes a similar point in its rundown of what UK marketers need to know about the DMCC Act, framing the law as a prompt to clean up everyday practice rather than a one-off compliance scramble. Trust is becoming a regulated minimum, and the brands that were already trustworthy now have a clearer advantage.
The bottom line
The DMCC Act modernises UK consumer protection and hands the CMA direct enforcement powers with serious penalties attached. For marketers, the three priorities are honest reviews, all-in pricing without hidden fees, and fair, easy-to-leave subscriptions. None of this is exotic — it is good practice written into law. Businesses that audit these areas now will be on the right side of both the regulator and their customers.