Little by little, ‘drip trading’ will disappear

The UK’s competition and consumer law watchdog has imposed a £4.2 million fine on a motoring group for breaching consumer protection law under new enforcement powers.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) imposed the fine against AA Driving School and BSM Driving School after the two companies admitted breaches of new consumer protection rules.

CMA investigations revealed a mandatory £3 booking fee was not included in the total upfront price shown to 80,000 learner drivers when booking lessons online. The illegal practice, commonly known as “drip pricing”, can mislead consumers into selecting a service or product for its low price, only for this to be increased later at the check-out.

Angelique Bret is an expert on competition law

Under pre-existing consumer law, drip pricing could be investigated as a misleading action or omission. However, since 6 April 2025 the practice is outright illegal under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA). The DMCCA contains updated provisions that prohibit a wide range of “unfair commercial practices” (UCPs), including drip pricing, pressure selling, and fake reviews.

The two parallel investigations found consumers booking driving lessons on the AA and BSM websites between April and December 2025 were initially shown prices that did not include the mandatory booking fee.

The CMA ordered the Automobile Association Developments Limited (the AA), which owns both driving schools, to pay the £4.2 million for breaking consumer law and to issue over £760,000 in refunds to affected customers.

The CMA said the company admitted to breaking the law and agreed to settle the case early, receiving a 40% reduction to its financial penalty, otherwise the full penalty would have been approximately £ 7 million. This is the agency’s first monetary fine imposed for a substantive breach of consumer protection rules using its new direct enforcement consumer law powers under the DMCCA.

This is a landmark development, marking the first time the CMA imposed a monetary fine under the DMCCA for a substantive infringement of the UK’s recently expanded consumer protection rules. It highlights that the CMA is serious about enforcement and that businesses must treat consumer law compliance as seriously as compliance with competition rules.

Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive of the CMA, said: “If a fee is mandatory, the law is clear: it must be included in the price from the very start - not added at checkout - so consumers always know what they need to pay.”

Cardell added that customers deserved “clarity” on pricing as increases in the cost of living place greater pressure on consumers, particularly learner drivers and motorists.

The CMA said that affected customers would be contacted directly by the AA Driving School or BSM Driving School and, where possible, automatically refunded payment for their lessons.

These latest penalties form part of broader action being taken by the authority to clamp down on unfair trading and pricing practices in the UK. In 2023, the Department for Business and Trade found that almost half of online businesses (46%) used hidden or dripped fees, resulting in consumer spending up to £3.5 billion extra online each year.

Having concluded its two investigations into the BSM and the AA driving schools, the CMA is continuing six other consumer protection investigations it launched last November, involving fitness firm Gold’s Gym; homeware retailers Wayfair, Appliances Direct and Marks Electrical, and secondary ticketing sites StubHub and viagogo.

These ongoing investigations likewise examine whether the traders’ respective online pricing and sales practices may have infringed consumer protection rules that prohibit UCPs including drip pricing and pressure selling.

Angelique Bret is a Partner, Pinsent Masons​