UPDATE: Saved by the Gel…again? Since our original post, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued a statement March 5 that it will be monitoring reports of changes to sales and pricing practices for coronavirus-related products. The CMA will consider direct enforcement action in appropriate cases if it has evidence that businesses have broken competition or consumer protection law such as by charging excessive prices.

The Chief Executive of the CMA, Andrea Coscelli, urged retailers to “behave responsibly throughout the coronavirus outbreak and not to make misleading claims or charge vastly inflated prices.”  Moreover, Coscelli reminded “members of the public that these obligations may apply to them too if they resell goods, for example on online marketplaces.” The CMA is currently assessing whether it should advise the government to consider taking direct action to regulate prices.