CMA fined the AA £4.2m and ordered customer refunds of £760k for breaches of new consumer law

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has issued its first financial penalty under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 of over £4 million for ‘drip-pricing’ – the practice of not showing all mandatory fees to consumers upfront but then introducing them later in the transactional journey.  

The CMA issued a fine of £4.2 million to the AA (AA Driving School and BSM Driving School), which was the final figure after a 40% reduction for an early settlement, for not showing prices upfront on their website to learner drivers and introducing mandatory booking fees later in the process. Showing all mandatory fees to consumers upfront has been a requirement since the DMCCA 2024 was introduced in April 2025. 

The CMA also ordered AA to issue 80,000 affected customers refunds which will total over £760,000, with the average payout being around £9. 

The CMA only opened its investigation into AA in November 2025, together with investigations into seven other businesses for potential breaches of the DMCCA 2024. 

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. 

At a time when people are watching every pound, dripped fees can tip the balance. And when it comes to something as important – and costly – as learning to drive, people deserve clarity. 

With our new powers, it will never pay to break the law or treat consumers unfairly. Where the rules are ignored, we’ll step in to put things right.”