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Statutory Instruments

2026 No. 293

CONSUMER PROTECTION

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (Alternative Dispute Resolution) (Information) Regulations 2026

Made

11th March 2026

Laid before Parliament

16th March 2026

Coming into force

6th April 2026

The Secretary of State makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 303(1), (2), (3) and (5) of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024(1).

Citation, commencement and extent

1. —(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (Alternative Dispute Resolution) (Information) Regulations 2026.

(2) These Regulations come into force on 6th April 2026.

(3) These Regulations extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Interpretation

1. In these Regulations—

“ the Act ” means the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024;

“ the ADR authority ” means—

(a) any person on which functions are conferred by regulations made under section 307 of the Act; or

(b) where there is no such person, the Secretary of State;

“ durable medium ” means paper or email, or any other medium that—

(a) allows information to be addressed to the recipient;

(b) enables the recipient to store the information in a way accessible for future reference for a period that is long enough for the purposes of the information; and

(c) allows the unchanged reproduction of the information stored.

Accredited ADR providers

1. —(1) An accredited ADR provider(2) must, within a month of the first anniversary of the date on which accreditation takes effect and within a month of each subsequent anniversary, provide a report relating to the preceding year which contains the information in Part 1 of the Schedule.

(2) The information in the report must be provided in relation to—

(a) the accredited ADR provider; and

(b) any other ADR provider(3) with whom the accredited ADR provider makes special ADR arrangements(4).

(3) The report must be provided to—

(a) the ADR authority in writing on a durable medium; and

(b) consumers by publishing it on the accredited ADR provider’s website, if any.

(4) An accredited ADR provider must, as soon as is reasonably practicable, provide the information set out in Part 2 of the Schedule to the extent it differs from the information provided as part of the application for accreditation under section 296 of the Act or under this regulation.

(5) The information must be provided in relation to—

(a) the accredited ADR provider; and

(b) any other ADR provider with whom the accredited ADR provider makes special ADR arrangements.

(6) The information must be provided to the ADR authority in writing on a durable medium.

Former accredited ADR providers

1. —(1) A person who has been, but is no longer, an accredited ADR provider and who is not an exempt ADR provider(5) (a “former accredited ADR provider”), must, within a month of the date on which the accreditation ceases to be in force, provide a report which contains the information in Part 1 of the Schedule.

(2) The information in the report must be provided in relation to—

(a) the former accredited ADR provider; and

(b) any ADR provider with whom the former accredited ADR provider made special ADR arrangements.

(3) The information in the report must relate to the period—

(a) from the end of any preceding report up to the date on which the accreditation ceases to be in force; or

(b) if there is no preceding report, from the date on which accreditation takes effect up to the date on which the accreditation ceases to be in force.

(4) The report must be provided to—

(a) the ADR authority in writing on a durable medium; and

(b) consumers by publishing it on the former accredited ADR provider’s website, if any.

Exempt ADR providers

1. —(1) Exempt ADR providers must provide the information in Parts 1 and 2 of the Schedule to the ADR authority to the extent such information—

(a) is also provided to a regulator; and

(b) relates to consumer contract disputes(6).

(2) The information must be provided in relation to—

(a) the exempt ADR provider; and

(b) any person with whom the exempt ADR provider made special ADR arrangements.

(3) The information must be provided—

(a) in the manner in which it is provided to the regulator; and

(b) within a month of it being provided to the regulator.

(4) In this regulation—

“ regulator ” means a person who has responsibility for, or oversight of, an area of activity by virtue of any legislation.

Kate Dearden

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State

11th March 2026

Department for Business and Trade

Regulations 3 to 5

Schedule Information

Part 1 Reporting requirements

1. The information required by regulations 3(1), 4(1) and 5(1) is—

(a) the number of requests for ADR(7) received;

(b) the number and percentage of such requests that were—

(i) accepted for ADR resolution;

(ii) not accepted for ADR resolution and the grounds for refusal;

(iii) resolved through ADR;

(iv) discontinued before ADR resolution was reached and, if known, the reasons for the discontinuation;

(v) resolved in favour of the consumer; and

(vi) resolved in favour of the trader;

(c) the number and percentage of requests for ADR categorised according to—

(i) the legislation alleged to have been breached; and

(ii) the type of complaint;

(d) the number and percentage of requests accepted for ADR resolution categorised according to the kind of ADR carried out;

(e) the average time taken to resolve consumer contract disputes calculated—

(i) from the date the ADR request was made to the information provider to the date of resolution; and

(ii) from the date the request was accepted for ADR resolution to the date of resolution;

(f) where known, the rate of compliance with the outcomes of ADR or any other actions agreed before ADR resolution was reached;

(g) where the information provider has made special ADR arrangements—

(i) the type of ADR conducted under such arrangements; and

(ii) the number of ADR providers engaged;

(h) based on the information provider’s experience—

(i) a description of any recurring systemic or substantive issues that commonly cause disputes between consumers and traders; and

(ii) any recommendations for avoiding or resolving such issues in the future;

(i) an assessment of the effectiveness of the ADR offered and any suggestions for improvements;

(j) any information on trader and consumer confidence in, and satisfaction with—

(i) the information provider; and

(ii) any ADR providers engaged under special ADR arrangements;

(k) information on any training provided to persons engaged by the information provider to carry out ADR; and

(l) any other information that the information provider considers relevant.

1. In this Part of this Schedule—

“ information provider ” means—

(a) an accredited ADR provider;

(b) a person who has been, but is no longer, an accredited ADR provider; or

(c) an exempt ADR provider.

Part 2 Information updates

1. The information required by regulations 3(4) and 5(1) is—

(a) the name, contact details and website address of the ADR provider;

(b) the kinds of ADR carried out, including the possible outcomes of each kind;

(c) the types of consumer contract disputes the ADR provider deals with;

(d) the sectors and categories of consumer contract disputes covered by the ADR provider;

(e) the procedures, rules, requirements or practices relating to the carrying out of ADR, including—

(i) any time limits for referring disputes for ADR;

(ii) any conditions or other requirements to be met by either (or both) of the parties before, or while, ADR is being carried out; and

(iii) whether ADR can be conducted orally or in writing;

(f) the fees or costs payable by either party to a consumer contract dispute that is referred for ADR;

(g) the language in which consumer contract disputes can be submitted to the ADR provider and in which ADR can be carried out;

(h) whether the outcome of ADR is binding;

(i) the grounds on which the ADR provider may refuse to deal with a given consumer contract dispute; and

(j) the process for handling complaints.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

In these Regulations, the Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers under section 303 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (c. 13) (“ the Act ”), requires certain information to be provided by specified persons, and makes provisions for the manner in which it is to be provided.

Regulation 3 provides that certain information (in Part 1 of the Schedule) must be provided by accredited ADR providers at every anniversary of their accreditation. Regulation 3 also requires providers to update any changes to the information (in Part 2 of the Schedule) provided as part of their application for accreditation under section 296 of the Act.

Regulation 4 provides that the information in Part 1 of the Schedule must also be provided by persons who have, but are no longer, accredited ADR providers within a month of their accreditation ceasing to be in force.

Regulation 5 provides that the information in Parts 1 and 2 of the Schedule must be provided by exempt ADR providers, but only to the extent it is also provided to a regulator. The information must be provided in the same manner and within a month of it being provided to the relevant regulator.

An impact assessment has not been produced for these Regulations as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen. An impact assessment was produced for the Act and is available from the Department for Business and Trade at Old Admiralty Building, Admiralty Place, London SW1A 2DY. An Explanatory Memorandum is published alongside these Regulations on www.legislation.gov.uk.

(1) 2024 c. 13.

(2) See section 291(10) of the Act for the definition of “accredited ADR provider”.

(3) See section 291(6) of the Act for the definition of “ADR provider”.

(4) See section 291(7) of the Act for the definition of “special ADR arrangements”.

(5) See section 295(1) of the Act for the definition of “exempt ADR provider”.

(6) See section 292(11) and (12) of the Act for the definition of “consumer contract dispute”.

(7) See section 291(2) of the Act for the definition of “ADR”.

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