Consumer Law | UK Regulatory Outlook October 2024

UK updates

UK government requests Ofcom to prepare report on designation of Tier 1 services under Media Act 2024

The secretary of state for culture, media and sport has written to Ofcom asking it to prepare a report on the operation of the UK market for on-demand programme services, following commencement of the video-on-demand (VoD) regulation provisions in the Media Act 2024 via the Media Act 2024 (Commencement No. 1) Regulations 2024.

The secretary of state writes that she is keen to begin the consideration of Tier 1 regulation of appropriate on-demand services "as soon as is practically possible". To do this, she is required to take into consideration the market report from Ofcom.

For further information, see our recent Insight.

CMA update on its market investigation into the UK vet sector

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published an update on its "behind the scenes" work in its market investigation into the UK vet sector (see this Regulatory Outlook for background).

The CMA has announced the appointment of a veterinary advisory panel, consisting of two veterinary nurses and four veterinary surgeons, to assist the Inquiry Group by providing clinical and practical insight and analysis on an ad hoc basis. To date, the Inquiry Group has conducted:

• site visits to talk to veterinary professionals to understand their work;
• roundtables with veterinary professionals and representatives from animal charities; and
• "teach-in" sessions with various organisations in the sector to gather insights on how the veterinary market works, their concerns about the investigation and how regulation is currently working.

The CMA has also used its formal information-gathering powers to require vets and vet businesses to provide information on the way their businesses operate. The statutory deadline for the CMA to conclude the investigation is 22 November 2025.

Amendments to Price Marking Order: one year to comply

The Price Marking (Amendment) Order 2024 was made on 21 October 2024 to amend the Price Marking Order 2004 (PMO), which sets out the pricing information that a trader, whether online or offline, must include on price labels for the goods it is selling. 

The new amendment order comes into force on 1 October 2025 and aims to make it easier for consumers to identify and compare selling and unit prices and to make compliance with the PMO simpler for businesses. The amendment order:

• Amends the definitions of "selling price" and "unit price" explicitly to exclude any payable deposit.
• Adds a requirement that all price information is displayed clearly and legibly.
• Adds an obligation that where goods are sold at more than one price, for example, a loyalty scheme price and a full price, both the selling price and the unit price for each type of price must be displayed, together with any conditions applicable to the different prices. Such conditions must be prominently and legibly displayed; available to consumers without them having to seek assistance; and displayed close by the product.
• Adds that, when offering products at a reduction, businesses must indicate both the reduced selling price and the reduced unit price.
• Revokes the provisions on units of quantity and mandates, in the definition of "unit price", that the price be displayed by metric units (kilogram, litre, metre).
• Amends the exemption from having to display a unit price for products sold as an assortment to cover not only assortments sold in a single package, but also those sold at a lower price if bought in bulk or in combination with other products, and those where some of the items are sold according to weight and some according to volume, or are sold at different prices when sold separately.

By the time the amendment order comes into force on 1 October 2025, the Competition and Markets Authority's strengthened consumer enforcement powers under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (see this Regulatory Outlook) should also be in force (currently planned for spring 2025). Businesses should therefore be prepared for the new rules to ensure compliance by next October. 

Ofcom publishes update on implementation of the Online Safety Act 2023, confirming that duties to comply with illegal content safety requirements should come into force in March 2025.

See Digital regulation section for this and other updates on the Online Safety Act 2023.

EU updates

EU Commission publishes outcome of its digital fairness fitness check of EU consumer law

The European Commission has published the outcome of its long-awaited Digital Fairness Fitness Check which aimed to assess the effectiveness of current EU consumer law in the digital environment. See our Insight exploring the main report's findings.

Council of the EU adopts position on measures to facilitate dispute resolution in digital age

See Digital regulation section.

Council of the EU adopts the new Product Liability Directive

See Products section.

Council of the EU adopts Cyber Resilience Act

See Products section.

International updates

OECD committee on consumer policy adopts declaration on protecting and empowering consumers in the digital and green transitions

The first meeting of the Organisation's for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Committee on Consumer Policy took place on 8-9 October 2024. At the meeting, the committee was presented with the findings of a new OECD survey, which found that nine out of ten consumers have been affected by harmful "dark commercial patterns".

The committee adopted a declaration, in which it committed to strengthening efforts to identify and take action against harmful practices, such as manipulative, coercive, deceptive or addictive online design techniques, fake reviews, exploitative personalisation and data tracking. The Committee will also encourage businesses to "pay due regard" to the interests of consumers and act in accordance with fair business practices and good faith. It also called on the OECD to update the 2016 Recommendation on Consumer Protection in E-commerce.

As for the green transition, the committee recognised that consumers often lack access to accurate and easy-to-understand information on the environment and committed to taking action to improve this. 

The committee also launched a new Global Forum on Consumer Policy, which will bring together policymakers, academics, businesses and experts to collaborate on consumer issues, behavioural economics, technological trends and emerging consumer policy research.