Consumer law | UK Regulatory Outlook June 2023

Digital Markets Act: consultation on the template for compliance report

The European Commission has launched a consultation on the template for the compliance report that designated gatekeepers will have to submit annually under Article 11 of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The Commission seeks feedback on the draft report which sets forth the minimum information that the gatekeepers will have to provide the Commission with.

The Commission will designate the gatekeepers under the DMA by 6 September 2023, and the designated companies will then have six months to comply with the Act and issue a report demonstrating their effective compliance. The reports should be further updated on an annual basis.

The deadline for submitting feedback is 5 July 2023.

Update on the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill is currently in Committee Stage, where it is undergoing thorough line-by-line scrutiny and amendments can be proposed.

The most noteworthy amendments from a consumer law context have come from the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP), which has tabled several proposals primarily aimed at expanding the "blacklist" of unfair practices in Schedule 18. The first amendment focuses on addressing the issue of fake reviews, suggesting the addition of three new offences to the blacklist. These proposed offences would prohibit the commissioning or incentivising of individuals to write or submit fake reviews for goods or services. Additionally, the SNP has put forward an amendment to ban the practice of "greenwashing", which involves making misleading claims about a product or service's environmental benefits or sustainability. They further propose that the government should establish clear definitions for products and services that can be labelled as "sustainable." Lastly, the SNP aims to include "drip pricing" as an offence, which is where a trader initially advertises a product or service at a specific price but subsequently adds additional charges as the consumer progresses through the purchasing process.

CMA publishes a report on consumer protection in green heating and insulation sector: focus on green claims

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