Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department have made of the potential merits of changing advertisement rules of delivery conditions for distance sellers so that they cannot advertise free delivery to mainland UK if they have terms of services excluding mainland UK addresses from free delivery.

The Advertising Standards Authority’s rules make it clear that advertising materials must not materially mislead. This includes any advertising that includes false information, such as free delivery.

Additionally, the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations prohibit misleading advertising. This includes delivery charges where applicable. If there are delivery restrictions or exclusions, these also need to be made clear from the outset. Where a business fails to take steps to comply, it can be at risk of action from enforcement bodies, including Trading Standards and the Competition and Markets Authority.

The Government is currently reviewing the regulation of online advertising to provide additional protections for consumers from false and misleading advertising. Our consultation on the Online Advertising Programme (OAP) closed last year, and we will be publishing a response in due course.