Clear, fair, and transparent: CTSI on what businesses need to know about pricing practices

Written by the BHTA’s Bill Lee, Head of Policy and Compliance, and Sarah Sarsby, Communications Manager. The authors used AI to help prepare this article.

Clear and accurate pricing is a fundamental requirement of UK consumer protection law. However, applying that principle across advertising, promotions, online sales, delivery charges, reference prices, and the wider purchase journey can require careful consideration.

To help BHTA members understand the requirements and their practical implications, the BHTA asked Sylvia Rook, Lead Officer for Fair Trading at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), about the thinking behind CTSI’s pricing guidance, areas of concern, and what businesses should consider when reviewing their own pricing practices.

Why was CTSI’s Guidance for Traders on Pricing Practices updated?

CTSI’s Guidance for Traders on Pricing Practices was updated in 2025 following the introduction of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA). However, Sylvia explained that the principles underpinning the guidance have a much longer history.

Before the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs), pricing legislation sat under the Consumer Protection Act 1987, with statutory guidance issued by the Office of Fair Trading. When the CPRs were introduced, that statutory guidance requirement disappeared.

The CPRs instead introduced principles-based legislation. Rather than specifying everything traders could and could not do, the underlying requirement was that businesses should not mislead consumers about price.

“Traders wanted specific advice as to what they could and couldn’t do to make sure they didn’t fall foul of the law,” Sylvia explained.

That left CTSI with a careful balance to strike: providing enough guidance to help businesses understand what might breach the legislation without making it so prescriptive that the guidance effectively wrote the law itself. This, Sylvia explained, is why the guidance is expressed in relatively general terms.

While the introduction of the DMCCA meant the guidance needed to be updated, Sylvia noted that the majority of the principles remain the same.

What are some of the most common misleading pricing practices that CTSI sees when businesses are selling to consumers?

Sylvia explained that CTSI is a membership body and does not have access to national complaint data, which is held by Citizens Advice. Consumers may also be unaware that they have been given misleading information about prices, or may not know how to complain. As a result, the available factual picture is limited.

Nevertheless, Sylvia identified several areas of concern.

“The DMCCA has clarified the need for traders to include all non-optional charges (such as booking fees, delivery charges, and service charges) in the headline price given to consumers,” she said, also pointing to CMA guidance and enforcement activity in this area.

“Misleading price comparisons (such as fake price reductions) are a problem.”

Sylvia noted that the UK Government has proposed an amendment to the DMCCA specifically addressing misleading reference pricing, including RRPs and ‘was/now’ pricing, to clarify the current position.

She also identified a lack of pricing, particularly in some small corner stores, and unclear unit pricing as issues, both of which breach the Price Marking Order 2004.

Where can businesses fall short in delivering transparency throughout the purchase journey?

“The law is clear that pricing should be clear and not misleading, and should include all non-optional charges,” Sylvia said.

One of the challenges for businesses is that the way costs are understood internally may differ considerably from the way consumers experience them.

“Many businesses want to separate out the cost of the item (or service), a charge of which they are in control, from the cost of delivery or other charges, which are charges out of their control,” Sylvia explained.

From the consumer’s perspective, however, it is the overall amount payable that matters.

“Sometimes it is hard for businesses to understand that the overall cost is what is important to the consumer, not how this price is broken down.”

This is an important distinction when businesses review headline prices and mandatory charges. The consideration should not simply be how the different components of a price arise, but what the consumer is required to pay, and whether that is communicated clearly throughout the purchase journey.

Sylvia also highlighted a practical challenge for ecommerce businesses, noting that “there have also been some problems with technology for online retailers in implementing the law”.

This is a useful reminder that pricing transparency is not solely a question of understanding the requirements. For online retailers in particular, implementing those requirements effectively within the purchase journey can present practical challenges.

How should businesses think about the real-world risk of getting pricing wrong?

The consequences of non-compliance can be substantial, but Sylvia cautioned against viewing the threat of a financial penalty as the principal reason for getting pricing right.

“Businesses should recognise that the legal requirements are not about the financial penalty for getting it wrong, but about giving clarity to consumers, so that customers know what the actual cost of a product or service is going to be right at the start.”

Businesses that follow the requirements should not face those penalties. However, Sylvia also stressed that “a decision not to comply with the law can lead to very large financial penalties”.

The significance of this distinction is that compliance should begin with the information being provided to consumers, rather than the potential consequences of failing to provide it. The objective is to give customers clarity about what they will actually pay before they make their purchasing decision.

What are the key takeaways for businesses seeking to follow fair and transparent pricing practices?

For businesses reviewing their own pricing, Sylvia recommends approaching the purchase journey from the customer’s position.

“We would advise business owners to put themselves in the position of their customer,” she said. “The law is there to protect consumers and to ensure that there is a ‘level playing field’ for all businesses.”

With those principles in mind, Sylvia recommends that business owners ask themselves four practical questions:

• Is your pricing clear, understandable, and legible, so the customer knows the price of the product or service?
• Would you be happy to have a large charge added at the end of the purchase process, when you had budgeted for a particular price?
• Are your price comparisons genuine and accurate?
• If you are unsure whether you are getting it right, have you sought advice?

“Enforcers do not want to take enforcement action, and would rather work with businesses to ensure compliance with the law so, if in doubt, ask for advice,” Sylvia advised.

Sylvia directs businesses to Business Companion as a first source of Trading Standards advice and guidance, including its specific resources on pricing. Businesses can also consult the CMA’s guidance on price transparency.

BHTA members can consult the BHTA Pricing Practices and Price Transparency policy advice note for further information on the DMCCA, price transparency, drip and partitioned pricing, RRPs and reference prices, promotions, mandatory and optional charges, and fair pricing practices.