Digital Markets, Competition & Consumers (DMCC) Bill - Which? Written Evidence submitted at Committee Stage in the House of Lords

Which? welcomes the Digital Markets, Competition & Consumers (DMCC) Bill, which will modernise the UK’s competition and consumer laws and has the potential to create a world-leading regulatory framework. Key to the success of this Bill will be the provisions to empower the Digital Markets Unit (DMU) which will create more competitive markets through tackling monopolies, and levelling the playing field between big tech firms and competitive, innovative, challenger companies. 

The Bill will also modernise and update the UK’s wider consumer protection framework, through giving the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) much-needed new powers to enforce consumer law. It will also give the Government new powers to add consumer harms to an updated  “banned practices” list,  and modestly improve the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) landscape. 

The Bill is timely as the ongoing cost of living crisis has heightened the need to address the rip-offs, scams, and rogue traders that cause consumers misery. It is estimated by the Government that up to a third of people experience at least one problem with a product or service every year, and consumers suffer harm worth £54 billion a year.   

However, there are two key areas where we would like to see changes.

• A number of government amendments to Part One, added to the Bill at Report Stage (Commons), are counterproductive to the effectiveness of the DMU and should be reconsidered. 
• Fake Reviews and Drip Pricing should be added to the Bill. It is critical that the buying, hosting and selling of fake reviews is added to the “banned practices” list in schedule 19 and are made criminally enforceable offences.