Archived News

Unfair Business Practices Consultation

15 February 2006

The Government has issued a consultation on implementation of the EU Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. Many advertising and other commercial practices will need to be examined in the light of the forthcoming new law.

The EU Directive prohibits unfair trading which is principally going to be unfair marketing and selling practices, including unfair advertising. It also deals with matters which may mislead consumers by any act or omission or by use of harassment, coercion or undue influence in an aggressive manner.

The new rules also outlaw practices that, while clearly unfair, are currently not unlawful. These include:

aggressive doorstep selling;
scams requiring competition 'winners' to call premium-rate numbers;
bogus closing down sales;
taking advantage of children's 'pester power';
advertising unavailable products at low products to attract consumers in order to sell them higher priced goods; and
falsely claiming consumers will get a better deal if they sign up immediately.