What the rule says (UK): the DMCC Act 2024 ban on fake and hidden incentivised reviews — and what it means when you read clothing and shoe reviews

If you shop for clothes or shoes online, you end up reading plenty of reviews — on whether a pair of sneakers/trainers runs narrow, whether a sweater/jumper pills after a wash. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (2024 c. 13), a UK Public General Act, sets out a regime on unfair commercial practices in Part 4, alongside rules on subscriptions and dispute resolution.

Within Part 4 sit prohibitions on fake consumer reviews, reviews that hide the fact that they were incentivised, and review publication that misleads. The descriptions of these review-specific prohibitions are set out in the Act's Explanatory Notes, and this article follows them. This article is not legal advice. It does not judge any brand or platform.

What the Act prohibits

On fake and incentive-hidden reviews, the Explanatory Notes state: "Subsection 13(1) prohibits the submitting or commissioning of fake consumer reviews or consumer reviews that conceal the fact that they have been incentivised." On hiding the incentive specifically, the Notes add: "A description of what a consumer review that conceals the fact that it has been incentivised means is provided by subsection 13(5)(c)."

On presentation, the Notes say: "Subsection 13(2) prohibits publishing consumer reviews, or consumer review information, in a misleading way, for example platforms (or" third-party traders operating on platforms) publishing consumer reviews in a misleading way by swapping a review of one product to another product ('catalogue abuse')." The Notes also note that "A non-exhaustive list of what publishing in a misleading way includes is also provided by subsection 13(5)(i)." For a shopper, this is the provision that concerns how a site orders, filters or displays what reviewers said about a jacket or shoes; the exact definitions of "consumer review information" and "publishing" are in the Act itself — the Notes state that "Definitions of 'consumer review information' and 'publishing' are provided by subsections 13(5)(d) and 13(5)(h) respectively."

The Notes also describe duties on the platform side. "Subsection 13(3) requires traders that publish consumer reviews or consumer review information, from third parties to take reasonable and proportionate steps to prevent inadvertent publication of fake consumer reviews, consumer reviews that conceal the fact they have been incentivised, or consumer review information that is false or misleading and remove such reviews or information." What counts as reasonable and proportionate "will depend on the circumstances of the case". Separately, "Subsection 13(4) prohibits offering services to traders to (a) submit or commission fake consumer reviews, or consumer reviews that conceal the fact they have been incentivised or (b) publish consumer reviews or consumer review information in misleading ways."

The wider regime the provisions sit in

The review prohibitions sit in Part 4, Chapter 1, "Protection from unfair trading." According to the Notes on the Chapter's overview: "This Chapter largely recreates the legal effect (with minor amendments) of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/1277) and has the same core objective of protecting consumers from unfair commercial practices." The Notes add: "The regulations were made to implement in the UK the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC (UCPD)." So the review rules are part of a broader UK framework against unfair commercial practices, one that largely recreates the legal effect of regulations dating from 2008.

Redress if a practice crosses the line

Part 4 also carries the consumer's right to redress. The Notes explain: "Consumers can make a claim in the civil courts against traders who commit misleading actions or aggressive practices." The right depends on conditions set out in the section: "Subsection (1) provides that a consumer has a right to redress if the four conditions set out in subsections (2) to (5) are met."

What this means when you read a clothing or shoe review

The prohibitions described above give labels to patterns worth recognising in fashion retail, where reviews sit on brand sites, marketplaces and independent platforms. A hypothetical example: hypothetically, a discount code offered in exchange for a five-star write-up with no disclosure would fall in the territory section 13(1) addresses as the Explanatory Notes describe it — reviews that conceal the fact that they have been incentivised. On the same reading of the Notes' description, the rule targets the concealment and the fakery, not the existence of product testing.

Some practical checks the next time a page of reviews is deciding a purchase for you:

• Look for disclosed incentives: under the provisions described above, submitting or commissioning reviews that conceal an incentive is prohibited; the text of a review that states plainly how it was obtained is a different signal from one that hides it.
• Note what the displayed reviews are about: the Notes give "catalogue abuse" — swapping a review of one product onto another — as an example of misleading publication under subsection 13(2), so checking that the review text actually matches the specific jacket or shoes is a grounded check.
• Weigh detail over volume: specifics about fabric, sizing and wear after a few wears are harder to fake than generalities, though this is a shopping heuristic, not a legal test.
• If a practice looks like a fake or incentive-hidden review scheme and a purchase has gone badly, remember that the redress provisions set conditions for civil claims that the consumer would need to satisfy.

The status of the text

As legislation.gov.uk stated it when this material was prepared (26 October 2026), the revised Act "is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 25 October 2026", with the site's caveat that "Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date" and that there are changes that may be brought into force at a future date. The Explanatory Notes say the Chapter applies "to an act or omission which takes place on or after the commencement date", with the 2008 Regulations applying as the Notes describe to conduct before that date — the dates and caveats can change, so check the site's current currency and commencement information for the specific section before relying on it; official UK consumer services are the right place for enforcement questions.

To check the result yourself, look at the Act's currency statement and the commencement information for the provision you care about on the version of the Act as it stands when you read it. As legislation.gov.uk stated it when this material was prepared, the Act "is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 25 October 2026" — that date will move, and the site carries its own caveat that "Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date."