The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (c. 13) is an act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the Parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom, supreme Legislature, legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of We ...

. It amends the

Competition Act 1998 The Competition Act 1998 is the current major source of competition law in the United Kingdom, along with the Enterprise Act 2002. The act provides an updated framework for identifying and dealing with restrictive business practices and abuse o ...

and the

Enterprise Act 2002 The Enterprise Act 2002 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which made major changes to UK competition law with respect to mergers and also changed the law governing insolvency bankruptcy. It made cartels illegal with a maximum p ...

. A government press release described it as an act to "stamp out unfair practices and promote competition in digital markets". The act also introduced significant reforms to the enforcement of consumer protection laws. The act further bans subscription traps,

fake reviews A user review is a review conducted by any person who has access to the internet and publishes their experience to a review site or social media platform following product testing or the evaluation of a service. User reviews are commonly provided ...

and

drip pricing Drip pricing is a technique used by online retailers of goods and services whereby a headline price is advertised at the beginning of the purchase process, following which additional fees, taxes or charges, which may be unavoidable, are then increm ...

. Amendments at Third Reading in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...

banned foreign states from having control or influence in the UK media. The act gives statutory definitions to different things including subscription contracts. In respect of digital markets regulation, it is the British counterpart to the European Union's

Digital Markets Act Regulation (EU) 2022/1925, commonly referred to as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), is an EU regulation that aims to make the digital economy fairer and more contestable. The regulation proposed by the European Commission in December 2020 was sig ...

and empowers the

Competition and Markets Authority The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the competition regulator in United Kingdom. It is a non-ministerial government department in the United Kingdom, responsible for strengthening business competition and preventing and reducing anti-com ...

(which has established a Digital Markets Unit) to regulate firms designated as having "strategic market status". The bill for the act passed Third Reading in the Lords on 26 March 2024, and received

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

on 24 May 2024. Other than administrative provisions, it will not come into effect until the Secretary of State signs a commencement order.Section 339 Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024

References

External links

Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill
page at bills.parliament.uk
Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill
Public Bill Committee tracker page at theyworkforyou.com 2023 in British politics United Kingdom competition law E-commerce in the United Kingdom Consumer protection legislation Consumer protection in the United Kingdom United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2024 {{UK-law-stub

See also

References

External links