Government response to the consultation ‘smarter regulation: improving price transparency and product information for consumers’

Statement

My Hon Friend the Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business (Kevin Hollinrake MP) has today made the following statement.

Today, my Department has published the Government’s response to the consultation on ‘smarter regulation: improving price transparency and product information for consumers’. The consultation sought views and evidence on steps Government could take to improve price and information transparency for consumers.

The Response sets out our intent to reform the Price Marking Order 2004, and to legislate on hidden fees (“drip pricing”), fake reviews, Online Interface Orders and Interim Online Interface Orders.

The Government plans to:

• Reform the Price Marking Order 2004 (Retained EU Law), simplifying the requirements making it easier for businesses to comply with and for consumers to compare prices of products.
• Facilitate the Defra, Scottish, and Welsh Government plans to create Deposit Return Schemes;
• Introduce new rules on hidden fees (“drip pricing”), by requiring unavoidable and mandatory fees to be included in the headline price or indicated at the start of the purchasing process;
• Prohibit commercial practices related to fake reviews; and
• Extend the power to apply for Online Interface Orders and Interim Online Interface Orders to additional public enforcers.

I am placing a copy of the consultation response in the Libraries of Today