Research and analysis

Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill: RPC Opinion (Red-rated)

Regulatory Policy Committee opinion on DBT's Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill IA

• From: Regulatory Policy Committee
• Published: 10 May 2023

Documents

RPC Opinion: Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill

PDF, 206 KB, 13 pages

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Details

The Bill proposes a package of competition and consumer rights reforms intended to update the competition law system and ensure that consumer rights and the civil mechanisms for their enforcement on behalf of consumers, keep pace with the digital innovation.

The Department for Business & Trade has addressed the majority of the concerns highlighted by the RPC in its initial review. However, the analysis of the subscription traps reforms IA, specifically that for the cooling-off requirements and the interaction between it and the other policy interventions to be introduced, remains insufficient. As a result, the RPC is unable to validate the EANDCB figure and the IA is rated as not fit for purpose.  The RPC has previously reviewed a standalone IA for the digital markets reforms component of the Bill and found it fit for purpose; it remains so in our current review – a separate opinion on this can be found here.

Published 10 May 2023