Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have undertaken any consultation with consumer groups about whether consumers involved in the recent Mastercard court case were adequately protected by the provision of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

The Consumer Rights Act enhances consumers’ ability to seek full compensation for any detriment suffered as a result of a breach of competition Law. Schedule 8 of the Act amended the Competition Act 1998, expanding the jurisdiction of the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), to hear standalone actions (powers akin to those of the High Court) and to hear collective proceedings.

A case was filed against Mastercard at the CAT in September this year (by representative Walter Merricks) on behalf of up to 40 million consumers, which is still in its early stages. It is the first claim of its sort, for a potential £14 billion pounds, brought on behalf of all UK consumers who have suffered loss, following the long-running European Commission case that ended in 2014 and the Commission’s decision that Mastercard had infringed EU competition law. Developments in the case can be followed through the CAT website.

It would be premature to undertake a consultation on the Act’s impact at present. The Government is required to carry out a full review, consulting a wide variety of stakeholders, including consumer groups, once the Act has been in force for five years.