An overhaul of the UK consumer law landscape is on the horizon, with the consumer law provisions of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 set to take effect on 6 April 2025.

By Fiona Maclean, David Little, Irina Vasile, and Sean Newhouse

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) represents a significant shift in the UK’s consumer protection regime. By introducing new enforcement powers and substantive obligations on top of a foundation of restated law, the DMCCA aims to modernise consumer protection in response to evolving market dynamics and technological advancements, and to address certain limitations of the framework underpinned by the Enterprise Act 2002 (EA 2002) and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs).

Background

Currently, UK consumer protection is principally governed by the EA 2002, the CPRs and the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA). The EA 2002 empowers the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to carry out certain types of civil enforcement of consumer protection laws and to seek court orders to stop infringing practices. The CPRs include a general obligation for businesses to trade fairly and identifies specific commercial practices deemed unfair in all situations, known as “blacklist” practices. The CRA deals with consumer contracts for goods, digital content, services, and unfair contract terms.

The DMCCA’s notable new consumer protection provisions include, from 6 April 2025: (i) a reformulation of elements of the unfair commercial practices (UCP) test and additions to the blacklist of prohibited practices; and (ii) new direct enforcement powers for the CMA, including the power to enforce penalties of up to 10% of global annual turnover. The DMCCA also introduces enhanced consumer rights in the context of subscription contracts, which are expected to take effect in spring 2026.

When Does the DMCCA Apply?

The DMCCA consumer protection provisions apply to acts or omissions by traders — anyone acting for business-related purposes — related to the promotion or supply of goods, services or digital content to consumers — individuals acting wholly or mainly outside their business purposes — where the UK connection and specified prohibition conditions are met.

• The UK connection condition is satisfied if the trader has a place of business in the UK, conducts business in the UK, or directs activities towards UK consumers, regardless of the location of these activities.
• The specified prohibition condition requires that the relevant commercial practice must breach one of the laws in Schedule 15 (Consumer Protection Enactments). These include, among others, the CRA, the Sale of Goods Act 1979, the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 and the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982.

What’s Next?

Just ahead of the 6 April 2025 deadline, the CMA has released important new guidance regarding the interpretation and enforcement of UCPs. Latham & Watkins will soon publish a Client Alert with a detailed overview of the changes introduced by the DMCCA, informed by the CMA’s new guidance.

This post was prepared with the assistance of Bukky Lawal in the London office of Latham & Watkins.