New requirement for customer review policy

The Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) recent review into online consumer reviews established that over 50% of businesses within the sample were non-complaint. The review often pointed to the absence of a clear or easily accessible policy and a lack of transparency around incentivised reviews.

The CMA is planning to write to the relevant businesses who will need to demonstrate they are taking adequate steps to ensure customer reviews are genuine and that their presentation is accurate. Incentivised reviews must be clearly signposted. Compliance policies must be clear, accessible and fully implemented.

The CMA has (to date) allowed businesses a grace period for compliance. However, with that period soon to end, the CMA has signalled a transition from support/education to enforcement from September 2025. The CMA is able to hand down penalties directly where breaches are identified.

For those businesses who have not implemented and published a review policy, the time to act is now. We have supported and continue to support various businesses with their compliance efforts.

Please get in touch with our regulatory team for support in this matter.