Issued by: HM Treasury

Consumer watchdogs to gain new investigatory powers

• Chancellor introduces tougher measures to protect people from unjustified price hikes

• Consumer watchdogs to gain new rapid investigatory powers to target firms taking advantage of crises to unfairly raise costs

• Regulators to highlight price gouging firms to customers

Working people will be protected from unfair price rises as the Chancellor clamps down on firms who rip off their customers.

A new framework will give the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) and other regulators stronger, more targeted powers to act quickly to tackle excessive and unfair price rises.

Price gouging is when a company puts prices up to an unfair and unjustifiably high level during a crisis. When a major supply shock hits, these powers will help regulators spot trouble early, move faster, and protect consumers.

Where regulators identify concerning practices, they could ‘name and shame’ by publicly sharing information on how individual firms have changed their margins in response to an economic shock, and the reasons behind this.

The Chancellor has today confirmed the Government will bring forward these changes to strengthen the current system.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said:

"When global events drive up costs, working families feel it first. I will not tolerate anyone exploiting a crisis to make a quick buck off the back of hard working people.

"We are backing families, backing fairness, and building a stronger and more resilient economy through our long-term economic plan.”

The Chancellor will also make it clear she won’t hesitate to go further if needed. Should the CMA or other regulators observe price gouging in an emergency and conclude that they needed further powers to tackle it to support consumers rapidly, the Government stands ready to act, including with highly targeted enforcement powers to give them the ability to direct firms to stop exploitative pricing practices and where necessary, impose penalties if needed.

The government will bring regulators together regularly through a new working group under the Regulators Council to share intelligence and monitor the response to the conflict. That means faster detection, sharper scrutiny and stronger protection for consumers.

These actions build on the existing strong powers the CMA and other regulators have to deal with anti-competitive behaviour. The CMA has already stepped up its work on road fuel and moved swiftly to launch a market study into heating oil supplies. The CMA is examining concerns from consumers and has made clear it will take enforcement action if it finds potential breaches of consumer law.

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