Regulatory Timeline: Advertising and Marketing

“The risk dial for advertising claims is being cranked up a notch or two, with potential new powers for the CMA and Trading Standards under the Consumer Rights Bill and the threshold to trigger penalties of up to £500,000 for digital marketers likely to be lowered dramatically.”

6 April 2015 – Lower threshold for penalties of up to £500,000 for breaches of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003

In October 2014, the DCMS launched a consultation proposing a significantly lower threshold for the imposition by the ICO of Monetary Penalty Notices of up to £500,000 for nuisance calls and other breaches of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.
Currently one of the requirements is that “substantial damage or substantial distress” must be likely. The options proposed by the DCMS included:

• lowering this threshold to “annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety”; or
• replacing the test with a simple need to show that the contravention was deliberate, or the person knew that there was a risk that the contravention would occur but failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the contravention.It is not yet clear which of these options will be chosen, but the DCMS is under pressure to amend the law before the General Election and is expected to announce what those amendments will be by 6 April 2015. 

30 April 2015 – New ICO Guidance on nuisance calls and texts

New ICO guidelines on nuisance calls and texts could be published following the recommendations of the Government’s Nuisance Calls Taskforce on consent and lead generation, which were published in December 2014. 

1 October 2015 – Direct enforcement against copycat packaging

In 2014 BIS carried out a consultation on giving businesses direct enforcement rights against copycat packaging, by way of amendments to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. BIS is due to set out its findings following that consultation. However, it is not yet clear when these will be published. 

2 November 2015 – New BIS Pricing Practices Guide

In February 2014, the Trading Standards Institute (TSI) issued a call for evidence on the need for review of the 2010 BIS Pricing Practices Guide. All the responses received supported the need for change. The TSI is currently in consultation with the Government and intends to carry out a further public consultation once it has published its proposals.