UK regulator probes whether Microsoft misled 365 customers over Copilot price rises
Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority has opened an investigation into how Microsoft sold its 365 subscriptions, asking whether the company misled personal and family customers when it raised prices and bundled in its Copilot AI assistant. The CMA announced the probe on 29 July, training its attention on the marketing of the plans rather than […] This story continues at The Next Web
The CMA announced the probe on 29 July, training its attention on the marketing of the plans rather than the technology itself.
It adds to a growing list of British headaches for the company. Microsoft already faces the CMA’s strategic market status inquiry into its business software, part of a wider look at how Amazon and Microsoft dominate cloud computing in the UK.
The cheaper option existed, but was hard to find. Customers who did not want to pay more could switch to a “Classic” plan without Copilot, but Microsoft stopped offering those plans to new customers and, the CMA suggests, did not make the alternative obvious to existing ones.
The price gap is the crux. In the UK, an annual Personal plan with Copilot runs to £84.99, against £59.99 for the Classic version, a £25 increase that the regulator says customers may not have clearly understood they were accepting.
The CMA’s concern is disclosure, not the AI. Its question is whether Microsoft gave customers clear and timely information about their choices at renewal, the point at which a default nudge toward the pricier plan does the most work.
The legal basis is worth noting. The investigation rests on existing consumer-protection law covering unfair commercial practices, rather than the newer Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, which hands the CMA sharper powers over the biggest platforms.
Microsoft did not comment in the CMA’s announcement. The regulator has not accused the company of breaking the law, only opened an investigation, and any finding, or remedy, would come later.
If it does find a problem, the CMA’s options range from ordering Microsoft to change how it presents renewals to seeking redress for customers, though any such step would follow months of work.
For now, the case puts down a marker: bundling AI into products people already pay for has become one of the industry’s favourite moves, and Britain’s regulator is testing whether customers were given a fair chance to say no.
