Who: The UK government, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
Where: United Kingdom
When: 9 August 2026 and 19 August 2026
Law stated as at: 17 September 2026
What happened
The regulation of price claims has been an area of extensive scrutiny from UK regulators. From multiple rulings issued recently by the Advertising Standards Authority in relation to reference pricing to the CMA’s enforcement action against drip pricing, the issue has now also attracted the attention of the government, which intends to address misleading discount practices as part of its “everyday fixes” programme to help people with the cost of living.
Government to target deceptive discount practices
The UK prime minister, Andy Burnham, has announced that the new government intends to address “pretend prices and deceptive deals”, where traders artificially raise prices to create a misleading impression of value. This may involve, for example, inflating prices before immediately advertising “discounts” to make savings appear larger than they really are, or offering discounted prices that are no different from the price charged before the discount.
The government plans to launch a consultation this autumn to assess whether false “was” prices, invented discounts and misleading recommended retail prices should be added to the list of prohibited practices in schedule 20 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA).
Under the current regime, several of these practices are already capable of being caught by the DMCCA. For example, they can amount to a misleading action if they are likely to cause the average consumer to take a different transactional decision. However, this is not an automatic prohibition: the trader’s conduct must be shown to be likely to affect the average consumer’s purchasing decision. Adding these practices to the list of prohibited practices in schedule 20 of the DMCCA would make them automatically unfair in all circumstances.
CMA escalates drip pricing enforcement
The CMA, exercising its new consumer protection enforcement powers under the DMCCA, has opened three new investigations into businesses over concerns relating to drip pricing, a practice that the legislation prohibits.
Trainline is under investigation over whether all mandatory fees have been included in the upfront prices displayed to consumers purchasing train and coach tickets in advance via the Trainline app and website.
Virgin Atlantic is under investigation over whether mandatory resort fees and local taxes have been included in the total price displayed to consumers at the outset of the purchasing process, and whether consumers are presented with a total price when purchasing a package holiday.
RED Driving School is also under investigation over whether a mandatory booking fee and a “digital” fee have been included in the total upfront price displayed to consumers when booking driving lessons.
These firms had previously been sent “advisory letters”, announced by the CMA in November 2025. However, the CMA remains concerned about their pricing practices following ongoing monitoring.
Why this matters
Businesses that rely on reference pricing and promotional discounts should closely monitor the forthcoming consultation. If the government proceeds with adding misleading discount practices to the statutory list of automatically prohibited practices in Schedule 20 of the DMCCA, the CMA will be able to enforce more easily, as it will not have to show any effect of the practice on the consumer’s transactional decision-making, using its direct enforcement powers under the DMCCA.
The CMA’s “drip pricing” investigations demonstrate its willingness to use those direct enforcement powers where businesses fail to address concerns voluntarily. The total price is expected to be presented to consumers at the outset of the purchasing journey.
