Fake reviews and hidden fees banned: what the DMCC Act changed

Since 6 April 2025 new consumer-protection rules from the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC) apply in the UK. Two changes affect almost anyone who buys online: a ban on fake reviews and a ban on hidden mandatory fees in prices.

What now counts as a fake review?

Banned are reviews presented as genuine but not based on a real person's experience. Writing such reviews, commissioning them, and offering services to create them are all prohibited. Importantly, platforms that publish reviews must now take reasonable and proportionate steps to detect and remove fake ratings, rather than turn a blind eye.

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For business, the regulator gave a grace period of about three months — to around June 2025 — so firms could get their practices in order before enforcement began.

What are hidden fees and drip pricing?

Drip pricing is showing a low price first and adding mandatory charges during checkout. That is no longer allowed. All mandatory fees — such as booking fees, delivery charges, local taxes or joining fees — must be included in the headline price shown. The buyer must see the total up front, not discover it at the final step.

Genuinely optional extras that a person chooses are not caught — but they must not be disguised as mandatory either.

Who enforces it, and what are the fines?

From 6 April 2025 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) can investigate and directly enforce consumer law — without having to go to court first. For breaches, the CMA can impose fines of up to 10% of a company's global turnover. Early enforcement focuses on the most serious breaches.

What else is banned?

The DMCC also refreshes the wider rules on unfair commercial practices. Misleading actions and omissions, aggressive sales tactics and pressure selling, and false claims about a product, discounts or stock levels (a fake 'only one left') remain prohibited. These sit alongside long-standing rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015: the right to return faulty goods, and to goods of satisfactory quality that match their description. The new rules do not replace the old ones — they strengthen them and give the regulator faster tools.

What should a shopper do?

Compare the final price, not the tempting starting one, and be wary of suspiciously uniform five-star reviews with no detail. If you see hidden mandatory fees or clearly fake reviews, you can report them to the CMA or your local Trading Standards. The new rules are on your side: a fair price and honest reviews are now a legal requirement, not a seller's goodwill.