Ever since before the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, Trading Standards have raised concerns about common business practices and whether they represent unfair commercial practices. However, until the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) Trading Standards and other government bodies were limited to prosecuting any such practices through the criminal courts, which can be a time consuming process, and doesn’t guarantee a result that will apply industry wide. The DMCCA changed that. From 2025 the DMCCA handed the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) direct enforcement powers. For the first time, a regulator can decide for itself that a business has broken consumer law and fine it, without having to go to court. It has taken a little while, but we are now starting to see just how the CMA are likely to start using these powers, and two practices are under heavy scrutiny. Drip Pricing The first is drip pricing. Any charge a customer cannot avoid must appear in the advertised headline price, with equal prominence, rather than surfacing later at the sales desk. For many dealers, the key concern are admin fees, which simply must be included in the headline price, if they are essentially “mandatory”, meaning that a majority of customers pay them. It’s a hard reality, and we are seeing many dealers try furiously to avoid the conclusion, but this is no joke. The CMA is using its new powers and drip pricing is in the crosshairs. We would not try to push the envelope here. The CMA’s very first fine under the new powers, in April 2026, fell on the AA’s driving schools — £4.2 million, plus £760,000 in refunds — over a mandatory £3 booking fee that appeared too late in the process. If a £3 fee can cost that much, pause and think about a documentation fee applied across a year of sales. Fake Reviews The second area the CMS is taking very seriously are fake and misleading reviews. It is now unlawful to write or commission fake reviews, to publish incentivised reviews without disclosing the incentive, to bury the unflattering ones, or to dress up your star ratings — and there is a positive duty to take reasonable steps to keep fakes off your platforms. This is not idle either. On 27 March 2026 the CMA opened five review investigations spanning funerals, food delivery, and car sales — and Auto Trader was among the named targets. That is the very shop window much of the trade relies upon. Any “leave us five stars and we’ll be generous on your part-exchange” arrangement is now a live legal risk. In Conclusion To be fair on the CMA, both drip pricing and fake reviews have arguably been criminal offences since at least 2008, and no reputable dealers would deliberately use them. The issue until now is that both of these are the extreme examples of legitimate business practices. Before April 2025 where to draw the line between upselling a product and drip pricing, or good customer service to incentive positive feedback and fake reviews was decided on a case by case basis by the courts. It is now based on policy decisions from the CMA, who can decide to positively guide business practices. We therefore advise members review their business practices, particularly regarding pricing decisions. Whilst upselling remains a legitimate tactic, any charges that should legitimately be included in the headline price now represent a significant legal risk to your business. We therefore advise members to make sure that every compulsory charge lives in the headline price—please note that it is not sufficient to include a “Plus Admin Fee” button, even if prominent, with some sort of additional figure. The price needs to be the price. With regards reviews, provided you are not actively incentivising positive reviews, the risk is lower. We would still advise that these are monitored and any fake reviews are taken down. Don’t forget, this advice is general in nature and will need to be tailored to any one particular situation. As an RMI member you have access to the RMI Legal advice line, as well as a number of industry experts for your assistance. Should you find yourself in the situation above, contact us at any stage for advice and assistance as appropriate. Motor Industry Legal Services Motor Industry Legal Services (MILS Solicitors) provides fully comprehensive legal advice and representation to UK motor retailers for one annual fee. It is the only law firm in the UK which specialises in motor law and motor trade law. MILS currently advises over 1,000 individual businesses within the sector as well as the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMI) and its members.