CMA Uses DMCC Powers to Fine Firms £6 Million Across Three Consumer Cases
The UK Competition and Markets Authority has closed three more DMCCA investigations with fines totalling £6 million, signalling that its new direct consumer-enforcement fining powers are now operating in practice.
On 14 October 2026, the Competition and Markets Authority announced the conclusion of three further consumer protection investigations under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, with penalties totalling £6 million across the matters. Reporting is from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner; the individual undertakings, sectors and total per-company penalty breakdown have not been verified from the CMA's own release here.
Why it matters: the DMCCA gave the CMA direct fining powers over consumer law breaches, removing the need to pursue enforcement through the courts and lifting the previous £5,000 cap that constrained in-house investigations. Three closures in a single announcement indicate the regime is being used at volume rather than sporadically, which changes the enforcement-risk calculus for any business selling to UK consumers.
What to watch next: the CMA's penalty methodology and the conduct categories it treats as serious enough to fine directly, plus whether appellate challenges to any DMCC fines are filed and how courts treat the new penalty regime. Advisers should assess consumer-facing practices in their client base against the specific conduct the CMA has penalised, and expect the pace of DMCC consumer investigations to increase now that the fining template is set. This summary does not confirm the identity of the fined firms or individual penalty amounts.