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Burnham brings forward ban on 'subscription traps'

newsAug 10, 202640173

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has brought forward measures to ban so-called subscription traps and crack down on misleading "pretend prices", saying the changes will make subscriptions easier to cancel and stop people being rolled onto expensive contracts without their knowledge. The government says businesses will have to provide clearer up-front information, regular reminders and a much easier exit from contracts, and that the rules will now come into force by January 2027 rather than next spring. When the package was first announced in April under Sir Keir Starmer the government estimated it would save consumers about £400 million a year, or up to £170 per person, and noted there are 10 million unwanted active subscriptions in the UK. Officials said more than 3.5 million people are being quietly rolled from free or discounted trials into paid contracts and another 1.3 million are caught by unexpected auto-renewals. The plans include outlawing shops falsely claiming higher previous prices to advertise discounts and will be followed by a government consultation this autumn on implementation. Consumer group Which? and its head of consumer rights policy Sue Davies welcomed the move and urged swift action, while shadow chancellor Mel Stride called the measures "reheated" and said the prime minister had run out of ideas. The measures build on elements of the 2024 Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act, which already cracked down on hidden fees and made canceling subscriptions easier but did not list false "was" prices among the Competition and Markets Authority's banned practices.

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