Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill concludes Lords line by line scrutiny

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill will create a regime to empower the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to regulate and increase competition in digital markets.

The bill also updates powers to enforce competition law and resolve consumer disputes, and protects consumers from unfair commercial, subscription, prepayment and saving schemes.

Line by line examination 

Committee stage is a thorough examination of the individual parts (clauses) of a bill.

Starting from the front of the bill, members work through the clauses in order, considering changes (amendments) to the wording or proposals for new clauses.

Proposed changes   

Members speaking on the final day of committee stage put forward amendments  (PDF) to the bill on a range of subjects, including:

• auto-renewal of subcriptions such as on-demand video services
• issues regarding event ticket sales and re-sale sites
• labelling of digital content generated by artificial intelligence.

Catch up

• Watch on Parliament TV.
• Read the Lords Hansard transcript.

Explore further information

Find out more about the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill in the House of Lords Library briefing.

Next steps

Report stage, a further chance to closely scrutinise elements of the bill and make changes, is scheduled to begin on Monday 11 March.

What's happened so far?

Committee stage day five: Monday 5 February

Members speaking on day five of committee stage put forward amendments  (PDF) to the bill on a range of subjects, including unfair commercial practices and charity membership subscriptions such as Gift Aid.

Catch up

• Watch the Parliament TV recording.
• Read the Lords Hansard transcript. 

Committee stage day four: Wednesday 31 January

Members speaking on day four of committee stage put forward amendments (PDF) to the bill on a range of subjects, including duty of the CMA to further the interests of citizens, reporting on the impact of the legislation and the role of the CMA in promoting international standards.

Catch up

• Catch up on Parliament TV.
• Read the Lords Hansard transcript. 

Committee stage day three: Monday 29 January

Members speaking on day three of committee stage put forward amendments (PDF) to the bill on a range of subjects, including appeals to the CMA.

Catch up

• Watch the debate on Parliament TV.
• Read the Lords Hansard transcript . 

Committee stage day two: Wednesday 24 January

Members speaking on day two of committee stage put forward amendments  to the bill on a range of subjects, including securely paying for goods online and interventions by the CMA.

Catch up

• Watch the debate on Parliament TV.
• Read the Lords Hansard transcript.

Committee stage day one: Monday 22 January

Members speaking on day one of committee stage put forward amendments (PDF) to the bill on a range of subjects, including the decision making process of the Competition and Markets Authority regarding what firms the digital markets competition regime will apply to.

Catch up

• Watch the debate on Parliament TV.
• Read the Lords Hansard transcript.

Second reading

Second reading, a full debate on the key principles of the bill, took place on Tuesday 5 December 2023.

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