Draft Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill “Draft legislation to promote competition, strengthen consumer rights and protect households and businesses will be published. Measures will also be published to create new competition rules for digital markets and the largest digital firms.” The purpose of the draft Bill is to: ●
Protect consumers’ hard-earned cash from scams and rip-offs and boost consumers’ rights.
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Reform the UK’s competition regime, putting the power in the hands of consumers and strengthening public and business confidence in the power of free markets to deliver prosperity.
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Create a best in class competition regime, to make markets for consumer goods and services more competitive and dynamic, to ensure that consumers get the best deals.
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Boost competition by introducing a new regime to address the far-reaching market power of a small number of very powerful tech firms.
The main benefits of the draft Bill would be: ●
Preventing fake reviews so consumers have information they can trust.
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Enabling the Competition and Markets Authority to take swift and decisive action on behalf of consumers and to boost competition, ensuring we have an economy where firms compete to give consumers the best deals.
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Providing more choice and better quality services for consumers and businesses. This will lower prices for everyday goods and services that rely on online advertising.
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Creating opportunities for UK tech companies to flourish and offer new products and services, which will drive innovation and a more dynamic digital economy.
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Ensuring that businesses across the economy that rely on very powerful tech firms, including the news publishing sector, are treated fairly and can succeed without having to comply with unfair terms.
The main elements of the draft Bill are: ●
Tackling subscription traps by requiring businesses to provide clearer information to consumers and to send reminders before a contract auto-renews. 34
