Consumer protection: enforcement guidance

The Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) purpose is to help people, businesses and the UK economy by protecting competition and tackling unfair behaviour.

About this consultation

We are consulting on draft guidance that outlines the CMA’s role and powers related to consumer protection.

The draft guidance provides a summary of the CMA’s consumer investigatory and enforcement powers and functions, including updates introduced by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. It describes:

• the principal consumer legislation under which the CMA has enforcement powers
• the way it cooperates with partners domestically and internationally to gain compliance
• how it decides whether to take enforcement action and what prioritisation principles it applies
• the use of civil consumer enforcement powers by the CMA and other enforcers
• the use of criminal consumer enforcement powers by the CMA
• the powers available to the CMA and other enforcers to investigate civil and criminal breaches of consumer law

The draft guidance updates and, once finalised, will replace the existing guidance, which was first published in 2016 (Consumer protection enforcement guidance: CMA58).

We want to hear from you

We are seeking feedback from those who have an interest in the CMA’s role and powers related to consumer protection. It may be of particular interest to businesses, their legal and other advisers, as well as to other enforcement authorities and consumer representative bodies.

Responding to our consultation

You can submit your response using the consultation form below.

You can either:

• upload a document (for example a PDF)
• send your feedback by email to consumerguidance@cma.gov.uk

If your response contains any information that you regard as sensitive and that you would not wish to be published, please provide a non-confidential version for publication on our website which omits that material and which explains why you regard it as sensitive at the same time.

If you need support with the form, or would like to send your response by email, contact consumerguidance@cma.gov.uk

Please note: you do not need to submit a response via email and the response form below.

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Our personal information charter set out the standards you can expect from us when we collect, use or share personal data and provides details of your rights in relation to that personal data and how to contact us.