The Competition and Markets Authority has removed 23 longstanding market remedies and partially amended two others after concluding that some competition requirements are no longer necessary or proportionate.
The decisions follow a review of 33 existing market remedies, examining whether changes in legislation, technology, consumer behaviour, and commercial practices have reduced the need for restrictions introduced through earlier competition investigations.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has now completed its final assessment of 31 remedies, retaining six in their entirety and leaving decisions on two further measures outstanding.
Market remedies are legally binding obligations imposed following investigations into competition problems. They can restrict commercial conduct, require businesses to provide information, or establish safeguards intended to protect customers and maintain effective competition.
These obligations can remain in force for many years. Businesses must continue to meet the relevant requirements until the regulator formally changes or removes them.
The CMA began its strategic review in January, identifying remedies that might have become redundant because of changes in the markets they were originally designed to regulate.
A provisional decision published in August proposed removing 23 measures, partially removing four, and retaining six. Following consultation, the authority has confirmed 23 removals and two partial amendments.
The revoked requirements include historic orders affecting tour operators, package holiday arrangements, extended warranties on domestic electrical goods, and store cards.
Other removals include the Payment Protection Insurance Market Investigation Order 2011, the Statutory Audit Services Order 2014, and the Payday Lending Market Investigation Order 2015.
The age of a requirement does not necessarily determine whether it remains useful. The regulator’s assessment considers whether the original competition concern persists and whether other legal protections or changes in market conditions have made the remedy unnecessary.
Removing redundant provisions can reduce administrative and compliance obligations for companies that would otherwise be required to maintain procedures associated with historic investigations.
The CMA has also partially amended requirements relating to home credit and historic carbonated drinks undertakings.
Those amendments remove selected obligations while preserving provisions that the regulator considers necessary to address continuing competition concerns.
Six remedies have been retained in full. They include measures associated with the Current Account Switch Service, local bus services, and the domestic supply of liquefied petroleum gas.
The regulator has also retained two sets of undertakings concerning carbonated drinks, involving Britvic Soft Drinks and Coca-Cola Bottlers in Ulster.
These retained provisions continue to impose the relevant legal obligations on affected businesses. They were not removed as part of the wider programme of regulatory simplification.
Two additional cases remain under consideration. The CMA is assessing consultation responses concerning possible partial changes to the Retail Banking Market Investigation Order 2017 and the Private Motor Insurance Market Investigation Order 2015.
Both measures contain requirements governing commercial conduct within their respective markets. The CMA has not yet reached its final decision on whether the proposed amendments should proceed.
An update on those remaining reviews is expected during November.
The regulatory review is concerned with obligations arising from previous market investigations rather than a general withdrawal of competition oversight.
Companies remain subject to competition law, consumer protection legislation, and other applicable regulatory requirements even where a specific historic order or undertaking has been revoked.
The CMA has said that reviewing market remedies allows it to concentrate enforcement and monitoring resources on protections that continue to deliver benefits.
The final decisions establish which obligations have been removed, which have been amended, and which remain in force, with the two outstanding reviews set to complete the assessment of all 33 remedies.
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