Drip pricing, green claims and dark patterns: The CMA’s consumer compliance crackdown

Consumer compliance has moved firmly up the regulatory agenda. Since the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) came into force, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been equipped with significantly stronger enforcement powers and has already demonstrated a willingness to use them. The message from regulators is clear: businesses that sell products and services to consumers must ensure that their pricing, advertising, website design and customer journeys are not unfair, or otherwise risk substantial financial and reputational consequences.

For consumer-facing businesses, the CMA’s enhanced powers and increased focus on consumer rights represent a material legal and commercial risk. Now is the time to review consumer-facing practices before compliance issues become enforcement actions.

An unfair practice causes consumers make a purchasing decision that they would not otherwise have made. This can take many forms, from failing to be upfront about costs, to making misleading claims about its environmental credentials, to manipulative website design that pressures consumers into buying. The common theme is that the consumer is deprived of clear, accurate information they need to make a genuinely informed choice.
The DMCCA, and subscription practices in particular, are also being prioritised by Andy Burnham’s government. This is reflected in the government’s recent announcement that the new subscription contract rules, previously expected to come into force in spring 2027, will now take effect in January 2027, shortening the compliance runway for businesses that operate recurring payment, membership or auto-renewal models.

A New Era of Consumer Enforcement

One of the key changes introduced by the DMCCA is the CMA’s power to enforce consumer law directly rather than merely investigating, “naming and shaming” and seeking undertakings from businesses to change their practices.
This is underpinned in the DMCCA by introducing the ability of the CMA to impose fines on businesses reaching up to 10% of their global annual turnover for breaches of consumer protection law. This gives the regulator a much more forceful toolset to tackling non-compliance.

The CMA has wasted little time in exercising these powers, as shown by its early enforcement activity, with recent cases focusing on drip pricing, misleading environmental claims and dark patterns and misleading consumer journeys. This all goes to show that consumer protection is no longer a secondary compliance issue – it is now firmly at the forefront of the UK’s enforcement landscape.

Drip Pricing: A Key Enforcement Focus

One area receiving particular scrutiny is drip pricing, which is now expressly prohibited under the DMCCA.

Drip pricing occurs where consumers are presented with an initial price, only for mandatory charges such as service fees, booking fees or delivery costs to be added later in the purchasing journey. This practice can distort consumer decision-making and make it difficult for customers to compare competing offers accurately.

Recent CMA enforcement action illustrates its hard-line approach.

Earlier this year, the CMA ordered AA Driving School and BSM Driving School to refund more than 80,000 customers and imposed a £4.2 million penalty after identifying unlawful drip pricing practices.

More recently, StubHub UK was ordered to refund over 50,000 customers more than £590,000 in hidden fees and pay a fine of approximately £900,000. The CMA found that mandatory service and delivery fees were only disclosed at the final stage of the checkout process rather than being included in the headline price presented to consumers from the outset. The regulator concluded that this constituted unlawful drip pricing.

These cases are notable not only because of the penalties involved, but because they demonstrate the CMA’s willingness to scrutinise the entire customer journey rather than simply reviewing contractual terms or advertising copy.

Green Claims Under the Microscope

Pricing practices are not the only area attracting regulatory attention. Businesses making environmental or sustainability claims are also facing increased scrutiny.

In December 2025, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that advertisements by Superdry, Nike and Lacoste breached advertising standards through their use of claims such as “sustainable”, “sustainable materials”, “sustainable style” and “sustainable clothing”. These decisions formed part of a wider investigation into environmental claims in the fashion sector, with the advertisements identified through the ASA’s AI-powered Active Ad Monitoring system.

The ASA considered that the claims were likely to mislead consumers because they conveyed environmental benefits without adequate substantiation. In particular, the regulator took issue with claims suggesting that products were “sustainable” where businesses could not demonstrate that the products had no detrimental environmental impact throughout their lifecycle.

These rulings reinforce the principles set out in the CMA’s Green Claims Code. Businesses must ensure that environmental claims are clear, specific, evidence-based and capable of being substantiated. General statements about sustainability, however well-intentioned, are unlikely to be sufficient unless supported by robust evidence and appropriate qualification.

What does this mean for your business?

The combination of enhanced CMA powers, significant financial penalties and increasingly proactive enforcement means that consumer compliance can no longer be treated as a low-priority legal issue that can be cleaned up if investigated. Businesses should instead view compliance as a key commercial and risk-management priority.

At SMB, we help businesses navigate the increasingly complex consumer protection landscape and reduce regulatory enforcement risk. Our team advises on compliance with the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA), wider consumer protection legislation and the CAP Code. As part of this support, we conduct detailed reviews of websites, apps and customer journeys to identify potentially unfair commercial practices and compliance risks. This includes assessing calls to action, user interfaces and purchasing journeys for misleading practices, prohibited dark patterns and drip pricing risks, as well as reviewing advertising and marketing materials for compliance with the CAP Code.

By taking a proactive approach to consumer compliance, businesses can reduce enforcement risk, protect consumer trust and ensure that their customer experience meets the expectations of both regulators and consumers.

If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in this article or find out how they may affect you or your organisation, please contact Michelle Rule or Rhiana Mandair.