Minister for Employment Rights, Competition and Markets (): The Department for
Business and Trade has today published a consultation called
‘Consultation on the Implementation of the New Subscriptions
Contracts Regime'.
The consultation seeks views on provisions to be made in
secondary legislation to set out how the regime operates and is
related to the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act
(the Act), which received Royal Assent on 24 May 2024.
Part 4, Chapter 2 of the Act establishes rules for subscription
contracts between traders and consumers. The purpose of the
measures is to protect consumers from being trapped in unwanted
subscription contracts. The new rules in the Act ensure that
consumers:
o Have clear information before signing up to a subscription.
o Receive reminders about their ongoing subscriptions.
o Have a 14-day period to cancel after a subscription's free or
discounted trial period automatically rolls onto a full price
period, or a subscription auto-renews on to a 12 month or longer
period.
o Can exit a subscription generally as easily as they signed up,
including being able to cancel online if they signed up online.
Before the new rules come into force, secondary legislation is
needed. The consultation will ensure that the subscription regime
is effectively implemented in line with the objectives of the
Act. The consultation asks stakeholders to comment on a number of
key proposals including how returns and refunds work if a
consumer exercises a statutory cancellation right, the extension
of cooling-off periods, and how information notices must be
provided.
The consultation will be open for 12 weeks and the Government
will publish its response at a future point. A copy of the
consultation will be placed in the libraries of both Houses and
published on GOV.UK.
