LONDON (dpa-AFX) - UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced that he will be rolling out a series of 'everyday fixes' to help people with the cost of living, kicking off with two measures on Sunday.
The new Prime Minister said he plans to ban retailers from making misleading claims to customers about discounts.
'Pretend prices' and deceptive deals will be a thing of the past under the Prime Minister's plans to ban retailers from making misleading claims to customers about discounts. Shoppers have increasingly complained about outlets artificially inflating prices to give a false sense of value, such as increasing them only to then immediately advertise 'discounts' to make savings look larger than they really are.
This includes discounted prices being the same as they were before the discount, intended to trick consumers into thinking they are getting good value whilst saving them nothing and creating an uneven playing field for honest competitors.
Burnham said he also wants to see an end to subscription traps, where people find it hard to cancel their subscriptions and contracts are automatically renewed at a higher cost. New rules will come into force in January 2027, when customers often start new subscriptions for the year ahead.
Saving an average of £14 a month for every unwanted subscription, the changes will mean businesses will need to provide clearer up-front information, regular reminders and a much easier exit to contracts. A new 14-day cooling-off period will also let consumers cancel after a trial or long-term contract renews.
According to the Prime Minister's Office, there are around 155 million active subscriptions in the UK, with consumers spending an estimated £1.6 billion a year on services they don't actually want, but adding to family budgets.
Certain charitable memberships for cultural and heritage organisations will be excluded from the new subscription rules.
Burnham said, 'I know people are sick and tired of rip-off discounts and subscription traps. Westminster has got used to telling people that everyday hassles like this are just part of life. I don't think that's right, especially when the cost of living continues to weigh heavily on so many people's lives. I'm determined to pull every single lever we can to provide people with some room to breathe on the cost of living.'
A consultation will launch this autumn to assess whether tactics such as fake prices, invented discounts and misleading recommended retail prices should be added to the list of practices banned under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act.
Under current laws, it can be difficult for enforcers to take on these cases. Adding these tactics to this list would mean they will automatically be considered unfair, making it easier to crack down while making rules simpler for businesses to follow.
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