Microsoft moved UK customers onto pricier AI plans by default – now three regulators are investigating
Key Points
- The CMA has opened a consumer protection investigation into how Microsoft communicated Microsoft 365 price changes to UK customers after adding Copilot.
- UK annual prices rose 42% for Personal (£59.99 to £84.99) and 31% for Family (£79.99 to £104.99).
- Australia's ACCC is suing Microsoft over the same conduct affecting 2.7 million customers; Italy's AGCM opened its own case in June 2026.
- The CMA can fine up to 10% of global turnover, and has already recovered £1.95 million in refunds under powers granted in April 2025.
- This is a separate case from the CMA's strategic market status investigation into Microsoft's business software ecosystem, which reports by February 2027.
The Competition and Markets Authority has opened an investigation into how Microsoft told UK customers about the Microsoft 365 price rises that followed its addition of Copilot.
The regulator is examining changes Microsoft made to its Personal and Family plans, which bundle Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Copilot.
From January 2025, Microsoft gave existing subscribers access to the new features at no extra cost for the remainder of their term.
When that term ended, those customers rolled onto a new, more expensive plan unless they actively selected a different option or cancelled. Microsoft also stopped selling Personal and Family plans without the new features to anyone signing up fresh.
Microsoft offered existing customers a time-limited route out through its Classic plans, which kept the old feature set at the old price.
- The Classic Personal plan costs £59.99 a year, against £84.99 for the new version – a rise of 42%.
- Classic Family costs £79.99 a year, against £104.99 for the new plan, up 31%.
- On monthly billing, Personal moved from £5.99 to £8.49 and Family from £7.99 to £10.49.
Hayley Fletcher, Senior Director for Consumer Protection at the CMA, said the investigation will consider whether Microsoft misled its customers and whether they paid more as a result.
Fletcher said customers need “clear and timely information about their options” when a business changes its subscription plans. The CMA has reached no conclusions on whether Microsoft broke the law.
3 regulators are stepping in
Australia moved first and the ACCC commenced Federal Court proceedings in October 2025 against Microsoft Australia and Microsoft Corporation, alleging the company misled approximately 2.7 million Australian customers.
The ACCC alleges that from 31 October 2024, Microsoft told auto-renewing Personal and Family subscribers they had two choices: accept Copilot integration at a higher price, or cancel.
According to the regulator, Microsoft did not disclose a third option – the Classic plans, which retained the existing features at the previous price. Microsoft has since filed its defence.
Under Australian Consumer Law, the maximum penalty for each breach reaches 30% of adjusted turnover during the breach period where the value of the benefit cannot be determined.
Italy’s AGCM opened a case in June 2026 against Microsoft Ireland Operations and Microsoft Italy, examining whether the company gave consumers enough information to assess the changes and decide whether to renew, and whether its conduct amounted to an aggressive practice.
Microsoft said it would cooperate with the Italian authority and comply with Italian consumer law.
Since April 2025, the CMA decides for itself whether a business has breached consumer law rather than taking each case through the courts.
It has secured more than £1.95 million in refunds and levied close to £6.2 million in fines using those powers. Where it finds an infringement, it can fine a company up to 10% of global turnover, or £300,000 where that figure is higher.
Microsoft already under investigation
This is not the CMA’s only live Microsoft investigation.
On 14 May 2026, the regulator launched a strategic market status investigation into Microsoft’s business software ecosystem, the fourth SMS case since the UK digital markets regime took effect in January 2025.
That inquiry covers Windows, Microsoft 365, Teams, Azure, identity and security products and Copilot, and examines bundling, interoperability and default settings across more than 15 million UK commercial users.
A decision is due by February 2027.
Microsoft said in December it would raise prices on its flagship business subscriptions by an average of 16% from July 2026 as it folds in more AI tools.
