UK Watchdog Opens Formal Probes Into Trainline, Virgin Atlantic and RED Driving School Over Hidden Fees

The UK's competition watchdog has opened formal investigations into Trainline, Virgin Atlantic and RED Driving School over allegations they hid mandatory fees from customers until deep into the checkout process. On Wednesday, August 19, 2026, the Competition and Markets Authority launched the probes.

The practice is called drip pricing. Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, it's illegal. The law requires companies to show the total price upfront rather than tacking on surprise charges after a customer has already committed to buying.

According to the CMA, Trainline added fees ranging from 59p to £2.79 on train ticket bookings and a flat £1.50 fee on coach bookings. Virgin Atlantic is accused of leaving mandatory resort fees and local taxes off the sticker price for package holidays, charges the CMA says can run into the hundreds of pounds. RED Driving School, one of the UK's largest driving instruction networks with more than 1,700 franchised instructors, is accused of not disclosing a booking fee and a "digital fee" that together can top £7 per lesson, according to gov.uk.

All three companies had already received advisory letters from the CMA as part of an earlier enforcement sweep, according to bmmagazine and the law firm Lewis Silkin. Those letters followed a cross-economy review last year covering more than 400 businesses across 19 sectors, where the CMA said it found compliance concerns in 14 of them and flagged 100 companies. Trainline in particular has a history here. The Office of Rail and Road called out Trainline and six other ticket sellers for the same issue back in 2023, according to the BBC.

Emma Cochrane, the CMA's executive director for consumer protection, said: "The first price customers see should be the price they pay." She added that unclear pricing makes it harder for people to compare offers and shop around, which matters when households are watching their budgets.

The stakes for the companies are real. Under its newer enforcement powers, the CMA doesn't have to go through the courts to rule on consumer law violations. It can order compensation directly and fine companies up to 10% of their global turnover. The regulator has already used these powers this year. It fined the AA £4.2 million and ordered it to repay more than £760,000 to learner drivers. It made StubHub pay out nearly £1.5 million in refunds and penalties, according to the Guardian. Two other driving schools were ordered to refund more than 80,000 customers earlier this year over the same pricing issue, the BBC reported.

Sue Davies, head of consumer rights policy at Which?, said the CMA "shouldn't hesitate to use its new consumer enforcement powers to fine any firms that have broken the rules — especially after each firm has already received a warning advisory letter," according to bmmagazine.

None of the three companies have been found guilty of anything. The CMA itself says the investigations are at an early stage with no conclusions reached, according to bmmagazine. Trainline said it has "proactively engaged with the CMA over several months" and is "taking proactive steps to enhance how certain fees are presented to our customers." Virgin Atlantic Holidays said mandatory fees are "indicated at multiple stages throughout the booking journey" and that it takes its responsibility to customers "incredibly seriously." RED Driving School said it was "disappointed" to be swept into the investigation and said it values transparency with customers.

Disclosing a fee somewhere in a multi-step booking flow is not the same as hiding it entirely. There's a real question of where "later in the process" crosses the line into illegal drip pricing versus normal itemized billing. The CMA's own case will have to draw that line.

Markets didn't wait for the legal outcome. Trainline is the only one of the three companies that's publicly listed, and its shares fell as much as 16%, dropping to around 205p in early trading Wednesday, according to bmmagazine and the Guardian. That's a stock price move, not a claim about what any specific investor gained or lost.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has made cutting "rip-off" pricing a cost-of-living priority. His government has signaled it would "step in wherever it could" on unfair pricing practices. Government research cited by Lewis Silkin estimates dripped fees cost UK consumers between £595 million and £3.5 billion a year, excluding delivery charges.

None of the three firms has been fined or ordered to pay compensation as of today. The CMA has not set a public timeline for concluding the investigations, and the companies will have the chance to respond formally before any findings are made public.