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Regulators Urged to Curb Exploitative Practices Harming UK Consumers
16 Nov
Summary
- Lack of competition in key service markets contributes to "sticky" inflation
- Consumers struggle with complex contracts, hidden fees, and difficulty canceling subscriptions
- Experts propose stricter regulations, including limits on "RPI-plus" price increases
As of November 16th, 2025, a new paper suggests the UK's productivity and cost-of-living challenges are exacerbated by the way key service markets operate. Economists Andrew Sissons and John Springford argue that a lack of proper competition in areas like energy, telecoms, and personal finance has allowed companies to exploit consumers through complex contracts, hidden fees, and automatic price increases.
The authors point to "signs that the competition regime for services that require contracts" is failing to keep costs down for consumers. They highlight issues like the prevalence of "RPI-plus" contracts, where prices rise just above the outdated retail prices index, as well as the difficulty many face in canceling online subscriptions.
Regulators are urged to take a more interventionist approach to foster more dynamic, consumer-friendly markets. Proposals include restricting RPI-plus pricing, mandating online cancellation for any service that can be subscribed to online, and even defining standard "plain vanilla" products to allow easier price comparisons.
With inflation remaining stubbornly high, the authors argue that improving competition in key service sectors is crucial to easing the cost-of-living squeeze and boosting the UK's overall economic efficiency.
