04 | Consumer protection
What's new?
Consumer investigations at a glance
04 | Consumer protection
What's new?
Consumer investigations at a glance
As of November 2026, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has opened consumer law investigations into 20 businesses and issued fines to seven. See below a summary of each investigation below:
Business | Issue type | CMA finding / allegation | Penalty imposed /
current status | Key dates |
STRAND A – ONLINE PRICING PRACTICES (DRIP PRICING & ONLINE CHOICE ARCHITECTURE) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Resolved (Total: 7) | ||||
Drip pricing | Mandatory £3 booking fee not included in total price at start of purchase process. | £4.2m fine + £760,000 + refunds to 30,000+ learner drivers (40% settlement discount). | Opened 17 Nov 2025; Decision 15 April 2026 | |
Drip pricing | Same conduct/decision as AA Driving School (jointly owned by Automobile Association Developments Ltd). | Covered by the same 15 April 2026 decision against AA. | Opened 17 Nov 2025; Decision 15 April 2026 | |
Online choice architecture | Customers automatically pre-ticked into paid "Recycle Old Appliance" and "Unpack & Recycle Packaging" services without express consent. | £72,000 fine + £60,000 refunds to ~4,000 customers (40% settlement discount). | Opened 17 Nov 2025; Decision 18 June 2026 | |
Drip pricing | Mandatory delivery service fees not shown in headline ticket price, added at final checkout. | £889,200 fine + £590,000 refunds to 3,150 customers (40% settlement discount). | Opened 17 Nov 2025; Decision 23 June 2026 | |
Drip pricing | Mandatory one-off joining fees not included in the total membership price and/or unclearly shown to customers. | £45,000 fine + £9,220 refunds to 726 customers (40% settlement reduction). | Opened 17 Nov
2025; Decision 29
September 2026. | |
Online choice architecture (OCA) | False time-limited offers – many discounted products stayed available at the same or lower prices after the stated deadline to purchase. | £4.8m fine (40% settlement discount). | Opened 17 Nov 2025; Decision 12 October 2026 | |
Online choice architecture (OCA) | (i) False countdown banners advertising “limited time” discounts – discounted products were repeatedly available over many days; and (ii) many customers were automatically opted into additional paid services without express consent. | £1.2m + c. £432,000 refunds to customers (40% settlement discount). | Opened 17 Nov 2025; Decision 12 October 2026 | |
Open (Total: 8) | ||||
Drip pricing | Same issue as StubHub + mandatory additional charges applied when buying tickets, not included upfront. | Investigation ongoing; the CMA's website states that an update was to be provided in Summer 2026, but no updates have been provided as yet. | Opened 17 Nov 2025 | |
Unfair contract terms / drip-style disclosure | Early-cancellation fee (50% of remaining annual cost) on "annual billed monthly" plans. The CMA is investigating the fairness and adequacy of Adobe's upfront disclosure. | Initial evidence-gathering phase; next update expected Autumn 2026. | Opened 19 March 2026 | |
Unfair contract terms and drip pricing | (i) Whether "a mandatory family seat fee" (£8/flight, required for at least one adult to sit with a child aged 2–11, including children with disabilities) imposed on customers is an unfair contract term; (ii) whether the balance of rights/responsibilities in the underlying contract goes too far in Ryanair's favour, given it effectively charges parents to meet the airline's own child-safety/disability seating obligations under relevant aviation rules; and (iii) whether the fee is "dripped" during booking rather than shown in the total price presented upfront. In parallel, Ryanair has: (i) applied to the Administrative Court for permission to judicially review the legality of information notices issued to it by the CMA; (ii) unsuccessfully applied for interim relief to be absolved from compliance with parts of the information notices and to prevent the CMA from taking enforcement action for non-compliance pending the outcome of the judicial review proceedings; and (iii) unsuccessfully complained to the CMA's Procedural Complaints Adjudicator in relation to the CMA's refusal to pause the deadline for Ryanair's compliance with the information notices. | Initial evidence-gathering phase; next update expected December 2026. The Administrative Court is expected to determine the judicial review application at a hearing currently listed for 24-26 November 2026. | Opened 10 June 2026 | |
Pricing fairness | (i) Parking charges issued to drivers queuing to pay using petrol pumps and forecourt services; (ii) fairness of wider appeals process. | Initial evidence-gathering phase; next update expected Spring 2027. | Opened 15 July 2026 | |
Online choice architecture / misleading pricing information (subscription renewal practices, but investigated under unfair commercial practices rules – not subscription contracts rules (due to commence January 2027)) | (i) Customers were automatically moved onto a higher-priced tier (with new features like Copilot added from Jan 2025) at renewal unless they actively opted out (£25/year more); (ii) new customers could no longer sign up to the previous, feature-limited plans; (iii) a "Classic" tier preserving prior features/pricing was offered to existing customers only for a short period, at original pricing. The CMA is investigating whether Microsoft's pre-renewal communications gave customers clear, timely information about their options and the associated costs. | Initial evidence-gathering phase; next update expected end of 2026. | Opened 27 July 2026 | |
Drip pricing | Whether mandatory booking fees (£0.59–£2.79 for train tickets; £1.50 for coach bookings) were included in the total upfront price shown when buying tickets on the Trainline app/website. | Initial evidence-gathering phase; next update expected January 2027. | Opened 18 August 2026 | |
Drip pricing | Whether mandatory resort fees and local taxes were included in the upfront price shown to customers booking package holidays. | Initial evidence-gathering phase; next update expected January 2027. | Opened 18 August 2026 | |
Drip pricing | Whether a mandatory booking fee and "digital" fee (£7+ per booking) for driving lessons were included in the total upfront price shown to customers. | Initial evidence-gathering phase; next update expected January 2027. | Opened 18 August 2026 | |
Business | Issue type | Specific allegation | Status | Key dates |
STRAND B – FAKE AND MISLEADING REVIEWS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Open (Total: 5) | ||||
Fake/ misleading reviews | Whether 1-star reviews (moderated by Feefo) were not published on Autotrader's platform and not counted toward star ratings. | Initial evidence-gathering phase; next update expected late 2026 to early 2027. | Opened 26 March 2026 | |
Fake/ misleading reviews | Same issue as Autotrader, viewed from the review-platform/moderator side. Regards whether Feefo's moderation of 1-star reviews for Autotrader denied consumers a rounded picture of business. | Initial evidence-gathering phase; next update expected late 2026 to early 2027. | Opened 26 March 2026 | |
Fake/ misleading reviews | Whether Dignity asked staff to post positive reviews of its crematoria services. | Initial evidence-gathering phase; next update expected late 2026 to early 2027. | Opened 26 March 2026 | |
Fake/ misleading reviews | Whether Just Eat's ratings system inflated certain restaurants' grocery star ratings. | Initial evidence-gathering phase; next update expected late 2026 to early 2027. | Opened 26 March 2026 | |
Fake/ misleading reviews | Whether customers were offered discounts on future orders in exchange for 5-star reviews, without disclosure. | Initial evidence-gathering phase; next update expected late 2026 to early 2027. | Opened 26 March 2026 | |
Article last updated: November 2026