The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a major online pricing crackdown under new consumer protection powers, opening investigations into eight companies and warning 100 more over practices such as drip pricing, hidden fees and misleading countdown timers.
The move, announced on 18 November 2025, is the first large-scale use of enforcement powers granted by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC Act), which came into force in April 2025.
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The watchdog’s action follows a review of more than 400 businesses across 19 sectors to test compliance with new UK price transparency rules in online retail and services.
The CMA says it has identified concerns across 14 sectors ranging from ticketing and travel to homeware, gyms and food delivery.
New powers put online pricing practices under scrutiny
Under the DMCC Act, the CMA can now decide itself whether consumer law has been breached, without first going to court. If it finds infringements, it can order compensation for affected customers and fine companies up to 10% of their global turnover.
The law explicitly bans a series of online pricing practices that had become common in digital markets, including:
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By GlobalData- Drip pricing – where mandatory fees such as service charges, booking fees or admin fees only appear late in the checkout, rather than in the headline price
- Misleading countdown timers – sales clocks or “only X minutes left” messages that suggest scarcity or urgency when discounts are not genuinely time-limited
- default opt-ins for optional extras, such as insurance or installation services, that customers must untick if they do not want to pay
These practices have been under political and media pressure for several years, with UK ministers already announcing a ban on “sneaky hidden fees” and fake reviews earlier in 2025.
For retailers and digital platforms selling into the UK, the new regime raises the stakes on online pricing compliance, particularly where fees are split between headline prices and later add-ons.
Eight firms investigated over drip pricing, fees and pressure selling
The CMA’s initial enforcement action on online pricing targets eight firms operating in ticketing, driving schools, gyms and homeware retail: StubHub, viagogo, AA Driving School, BSM Driving School, Gold’s Gym, Wayfair, Appliances Direct and Marks Electrical.
At this stage, the CMA has not concluded that any of these businesses have broken the law. However, it has set out the issues it is examining in each case:
- StubHub and viagogo – secondary ticketing platforms are being reviewed over whether mandatory additional ticket fees are clearly included in the price shown upfront, or only added later in the purchase journey.
- AA Driving School and BSM Driving School – both are under investigation for how they present mandatory booking or administration fees and whether these are included in the initial total price displayed to learners.
- Gold’s Gym – the probe focuses on how a one-off joining fee is presented alongside annual memberships, and whether this cost appears only part way through sign-up rather than in advertised membership prices.
- Wayfair, Appliances Direct and Marks Electrical – homeware and appliance retailers are being assessed for their use of time-limited sales and default opt-ins for extra services such as installation or extended warranties. The CMA will look at whether promotions actually end when advertised and whether customers are automatically opted into add-ons.
The CMA has said it is particularly concerned about pressure selling tactics where shoppers are pushed to buy quickly because of countdown timers or “last chance” messaging that may not reflect real stock or time limits.
For global e-commerce brands, these are now high-risk practices in the UK market.
Advisory letters send wider warning to online retailers
Beyond the eight formal investigations, the CMA is writing to 100 businesses across 14 sectors, telling them to review their online sales tactics and hidden fees structures or face potential enforcement.
The letters are going to firms in areas such as:
- holidays and package travel
- driving schools
- homeware and furniture retail
- rail, bus and coach travel, as well as parking and airport parking
- luggage storage
- cinemas and live event ticketing
- food and drink delivery services
- parcel and letter delivery
- gyms and fitness providers
- fashion and online voucher sites
These sectors reflect major categories of consumer spend. UK residents made nearly 45 million trips overseas between January and June 2025, spending about £38.6bn, while more than 11 million people belong to a gym and around a third of adults order fast food for delivery at least once a month.
Drip pricing is especially prevalent in event tickets, cinema tickets and gym memberships, according to government analysis, with drip pricing identified in 93% of event ticketing businesses and 60% of gym providers reviewed.
The CMA’s letters do not accuse individual firms of breaking the law, but they make clear that businesses should now:
- review how all prices and fees are displayed online across websites and apps
- ensure mandatory charges are included in headline prices at the earliest possible stage
- remove misleading or non-genuine countdown timers, “only X left” notices and similar urgency claims
- switch off default tick-boxes that sign customers up to paid add-ons
The regulator has also published final price transparency guidance to help businesses comply with the DMCC Act and its related unfair commercial practices rules.
What the crackdown means for the global retail industry
For international retailers, digital platforms and service brands selling into the UK, the CMA’s online pricing crackdown sends a clear signal that the regulator will act against:
- headline prices that do not include unavoidable fees
- drip-fed costs revealed only at checkout
- misleading “deal” claims based on artificial time limits
- online journeys designed to push shoppers into paid extras
The CMA has underlined that it wants a “level playing field” where fair-dealing businesses are not undercut by rivals using opaque or aggressive online pricing.
For the global retail sector, key practical steps now include:
- auditing UK-facing websites, apps and marketplaces for drip pricing risks
- aligning digital marketing and promotional tools with UK consumer protection law
- training commercial and product teams on the DMCC Act and CMA guidance
- monitoring third-party sellers and partners who use platforms or white-label sites to sell into the UK
With the CMA able to levy multi-million-pound penalties, demand customer redress and name firms publicly, non-compliance with UK online pricing rules is no longer just a legal risk but a reputational and commercial one.
As digital markets continue to blur borders, this action in the UK is likely to be watched closely by regulators and retailers in other jurisdictions debating how to tackle hidden fees, drip pricing and other online pricing practices that can erode consumer trust.
