The government has confirmed that the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024's (DMCC) new subscription contracts regime will apply from Spring 2027, a year later than planned. 

Some key takeaways from Thursday's consultation response:

• Cooling-off rights: The ability to waive cooling-off rights under the DMCC (and, currently, the CCRs) for digital content is here to stay, but it has been confirmed the additional cooling-off rights introduced by the DMCC (for example, after a subscription's introductory period) cannot be waived. If a consumer cancels during this window, they are entitled to a proportionate refund. The government rejected industry arguments about 'binge and cancel' risk, concluding that consumer protection takes precedence over the risk of this new right being exploited.
• Cancellation journeys: Legislation will prohibit contract terms that make auto-renewal disproportionately difficult to cancel, and upcoming guidance will clarify what a compliant exit journey looks like (including what constitutes a reasonable number of retention offers and feedback screens during the cancellation flow). Where a consumer cancels a primary subscription during a cooling-off period, any linked or dependent contracts must also terminate automatically.
• Information notices: The government has withdrawn its proposal requiring prescribed information to be presented upfront as the first thing consumers see. Instead, the test is whether the information is displayed more prominently than other content presented at the same time. The flexibility is welcome, but a judgement on what 'prominent enough' means will need to be made and applied consistently across different devices, channels and user journeys.
• Remaining uncertainties: Key operational questions, including the content and timing of reminder and end-of-contract notices, and how businesses should operationalise pre-contract information requirements in live sign-up flows, remain to be resolved through secondary legislation and CMA guidance. This is particularly frustrating given the volume of information that must now be presented immediately before a subscription is entered into, and the liability exposure if those disclosures are later deemed insufficient.
• Next steps: There is still a bit of a wait ahead for clearer direction.  The secondary legislation implementing the above has not yet been drafted… the consultation simply states drafting will commence ‘when parliamentary time allows’.  The CMA will need to see the legislation (at least in draft form) before it can finalise the much-anticipated guidance on the subscription rules, which will itself be subject to consultation…!