CMA opens investigations into eight firms over online pricing practices

The UK Competition and Markets Authority opened investigations into eight businesses on November 18, 2025, marking the regulator's first enforcement cases using expanded consumer protection powers granted under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. The investigations target suspected violations of price transparency requirements across secondary ticketing, driving schools, fitness, and retail sectors.

The enforcement actions represent the initial deployment of the CMA's authority to directly determine consumer law violations without court proceedings, accompanied by a broader compliance sweep involving advisory letters to 100 additional businesses across 14 economic sectors. According to the CMA announcement, the agency conducted a cross-economy review of more than 400 businesses in 19 sectors since April 2025 to assess compliance with price transparency rules.

Secondary ticketing platforms StubHub and Viagogo face scrutiny regarding mandatory additional charges applied when consumers purchase tickets. The CMA examines whether these fees are included upfront in displayed prices, a practice prohibited under the new legislation's drip pricing provisions.

Drip pricing occurs when businesses show consumers an initial headline price for a product and subsequently introduce additional mandatory charges as consumers proceed with a purchase. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 requires that mandatory charges be included in the total price presented to consumers from the outset of any invitation to purchase.

AA Driving School and BSM Driving School are under investigation over their presentation of mandatory fees on these sites. The CMA specifically examines whether these fees are included in the total price consumers see at the beginning of the purchase process.

Gold's Gym faces investigation over its presentation of a one-off joining fee for annual membership. The CMA assesses whether the way this fee is presented breaks the law, particularly regarding the introduction of fees partway through the sign-up process without inclusion in advertised membership costs.

Homeware retailers Wayfair, Appliances Direct, and Marks Electrical are being investigated to determine whether their time-limited sales ended when advertised or whether customers are being automatically opted in to purchasing additional services. The CMA specifically examines Wayfair's time-limited sales practices, Marks Electrical's default opt-ins, and Appliances Direct's time-limited sales and default opt-ins.

The CMA reached no conclusions about whether the law has been broken in any of these investigations at this stage. If the CMA provisionally decides that companies have broken consumer law, it will issue a Provisional Infringement Notice setting out concerns and giving businesses the opportunity to respond.

The new enforcement powers enable the CMA to decide whether consumer laws have been broken rather than proceeding through courts. If the CMA finds an infringement of the law, it can order businesses to pay compensation to affected customers and fine companies up to 10 percent of global turnover.

Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive of the CMA, stated that household budgets under constant pressure make it crucial that people can shop online with confidence, knowing that the price they see is the price they'll pay. "Whether you're spending your hard-earned cash on concert tickets or driving lessons, joining a gym or buying furniture and appliances for your home, you deserve a fair deal," according to the CMA press release.

The regulator is sending advisory letters to 100 businesses across 14 sectors outlining concerns about their use of additional fees and online sales tactics. The letters target sectors where the CMA identified potential concerns, as well as key areas of spending including holidays, driving schools, homeware retailers, rail travel, parking and airport parking, bus and coach travel, luggage storage providers, cinemas, live event tickets, food and drink delivery companies, letter and parcel delivery, gyms and fitness, fashion, and online vouchers.

These sectors collectively serve tens of millions of UK consumers annually. From January to June 2025, UK residents made over 44.7 million trips overseas, spending an estimated £38.6 billion. Domestically, 11.5 million people belong to gyms, while 16.7 million people order fast food for delivery once monthly or more. One in 10 UK consumers uses secondary ticketing sites, with 72 percent expressing concerns about additional fees.

A report by the Department for Business and Trade found that drip pricing was particularly prevalent regarding event tickets at 93 percent of businesses reviewed, cinema tickets at 69 percent, and gym memberships at 60 percent. These sectors all appear among the CMA's enforcement and advisory actions announced November 18.

The advisory letters put businesses on notice that they must review their practices and ensure alignment with the law to avoid the risk of future enforcement action. The CMA will continue engaging with these businesses to ensure they take the steps needed to comply with the law or otherwise face future enforcement action.

The CMA published finalized guidance on price transparency following consultation with businesses. While certain aspects of drip pricing have long been prohibited under existing consumer legislation, other elements of the law have only recently been updated.

Practices such as failing to include mandatory charges upfront, introducing unavoidable fees at checkout, and presenting misleading headline prices that exclude compulsory costs have been unlawful for years under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. The CMA's early enforcement action and advisory letters focus on possible breaches related to these issues.

The guidance clarifies that when traders give information to consumers about a product and its price, this typically constitutes an invitation to purchase. Invitations to purchase are significant because consumers require clear and timely pricing information to make informed purchasing decisions about which product is best for them and where to buy it.

According to Thomas Höppner, Partner at GERADIN PARTNERS, the CMA's consumer focus meant the regulator did not examine transparency in business-to-business dealings, including online advertising. "This leaves a significant gap and suggests that consumer protection alone is not sufficient to address opacity in online markets," Höppner stated in a LinkedIn post. "Given how harmful self-preferencing through weaponised opacity is to competition, the issue should not be dealt with purely under the umbrella of consumer law."

The guidance document specifies that prices must not be misleading and, whenever possible, consumers should be presented with the total price of the product at the outset. Traders are prohibited from showing consumers an initial headline price for a product and then introducing additional mandatory charges as consumers proceed with a purchase or transaction.

The total price must include any fees, taxes, charges or other payments that the consumer will necessarily incur if the consumer purchases the product. This requirement applies even in early-stage advertising, such as television commercials, radio advertisements, or social media posts.

Mandatory charges include purchase taxes such as VAT, administration fees, booking or processing fees, quality assurance charges, platform charges, fees relating to additional services that cannot be avoided, delivery charges where consumers cannot arrange for their own collection or delivery, local taxes and resort fees, pick-up fees or mandatory insurance cover required for renting cars, and joining fees that new members pay when joining gyms or getting subscriptions.

The CMA has taken significant action regarding online choice architecture, which sought to tackle potentially harmful online selling practices. Previous enforcement action included investigations against Emma Sleep, Wowcher, and Simba Sleep.

The investigations launched November 18 are the first enforcement cases opened using the CMA's new powers under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. The legislation came into force earlier in 2025, granting the CMA expanded authority to directly determine consumer law violations and impose remedies without court proceedings.

There is no legal deadline to complete consumer investigations under the DMCCA. The CMA stated it will progress investigations at pace while ensuring robust and detailed review is conducted and businesses' rights of defense are respected.

If companies infringe consumer protection law under the new consumer regime, the CMA can fine them up to 10 percent of global turnover. If a company breaches undertakings it has given the CMA, it could face fines of up to 5 percent of global turnover with additional daily penalties for continued non-compliance. Failure to provide information when requested, concealing evidence, or providing false information can result in fines up to 1 percent of global turnover with additional daily penalties.

The CMA's investigation into StubHub covers the activities of stubhub.co.uk, a website operated by Ticketbis S.L. that is not connected to or affiliated with StubHub Holdings Inc. The CMA does not name companies it sends warning or advisory letters to, following standard practice of only naming firms against which it opens enforcement cases.

The announcement reflects intensifying regulatory focus on online pricing practices across multiple jurisdictions. Australia's Competition and Consumer Commission launched a similar Black Friday enforcement sweep in November 2025 targeting misleading pricing claims including countdown timers and strikethrough prices.

The CMA's strategic market investigations extend beyond consumer protection to competition concerns in digital markets. The regulator designated Google with Strategic Market Status on September 30, 2025, following a comprehensive investigation that concluded the company possesses substantial and entrenched market power in general search services and search advertising.

For marketing professionals and advertisers, the enforcement actions signal a fundamental shift in compliance requirements for online pricing disclosure. Businesses operating e-commerce platforms, subscription services, ticketing systems, or any consumer-facing digital service must ensure their pricing presentation includes all mandatory charges from the first point of consumer interaction.

The guidance emphasizes that each commercial practice constituting an invitation to purchase, even if taking place early in the consumer journey, must be lawful. This requirement applies to social media advertisements, search engine results, email marketing, and any other channel where products and prices are presented to consumers.

Timeline

• April 2025: CMA begins cross-economy review of more than 400 businesses in 19 sectors to assess price transparency compliance
• September 30, 2025: CMA designates Google with Strategic Market Status under Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024
• November 10, 2025: Australian regulator launches Black Friday enforcement sweep targeting misleading pricing practices
• November 18, 2025: CMA opens investigations into eight businesses for suspected consumer law violations
• November 18, 2025: CMA sends advisory letters to 100 businesses across 14 sectors
• November 18, 2025: CMA publishes finalized price transparency guidance

Summary

Who: The UK Competition and Markets Authority launched enforcement actions against eight businesses: StubHub, Viagogo, AA Driving School, BSM Driving School, Gold's Gym, Wayfair, Appliances Direct, and Marks Electrical. The regulator also sent advisory letters to 100 additional businesses across 14 sectors.

What: The CMA opened investigations into suspected consumer law violations related to price transparency, specifically examining drip pricing, time-limited sales, and default opt-ins. The enforcement actions represent the first cases launched using the CMA's new powers under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. The regulator can now directly determine whether consumer laws have been broken and order businesses to pay compensation to affected customers and fines up to 10 percent of global turnover.

When: The CMA announced the investigations and advisory letters on November 18, 2025. The actions follow a cross-economy review conducted since April 2025 examining more than 400 businesses in 19 sectors.

Where: The investigations cover businesses operating in the United Kingdom across secondary ticketing, driving schools, fitness centers, and homeware retail sectors. The advisory letters target 14 sectors collectively serving tens of millions of UK consumers annually including holidays, rail travel, parking, cinemas, live events, food delivery, gyms, fashion, and online vouchers.

Why: The enforcement actions aim to ensure people can shop with confidence and fair-dealing businesses can compete on a level playing field. Consumers need accurate pricing information to know they are getting a fair deal, which is important for consumer confidence when shopping online and impacts economic growth. The CMA identified potential compliance concerns including drip pricing and misleading countdown timers, practices banned under the new regime. The investigations mark the deployment of expanded consumer protection powers enabling the CMA to act directly against suspected violations without court proceedings.