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The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published an overview of its provisional approach to implementing the new Digital Markets competition regime.
UK parliament is currently considering the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill (the DMCC Bill). This legislation is designed to tackle the problem of many digital services across digital markets being provided by the same small number of tech firms and recognising that current anti-competition legislation does not adequately cater for digital markets.
The overview sets out how the CMA plan to apply the legislation. They are committed to using a targeted, evidence-based, and proportionate approach, but it is clear that they are keen to make use of the legislation to level the competition playing field. They already plan to start 3 to 4 investigations within the first year, looking at whether the business concerned has Strategic Market Status in relation to one or more digital activities.
Where the CMA detects that a business is leveraging its status for an unfair competitive edge, it will take action to address this behaviour. This may include imposing conduct requirements.
Examples of these requirements might include prohibiting the business from giving preferential treatment to their own products and services, allowing interoperability of products and services from other businesses with their own offerings, or compelling them to enhance transparency around certain aspects of their algorithms.
If approved, the new digital markets competition regime will help tech challenger businesses compete and help all – businesses and consumers alike – to be more confident of getting great choices and fair deals when buying digital services.
