Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC)

The CCPC holds a dual mandate: it polices competition between businesses, including merger review, and it enforces the rules on how traders deal with consumers. Its consumer functions rest largely on the Consumer Protection Act 2007, where section 8 sets out the Commission’s general duty to promote and safeguard consumer interests in the supply of goods and services.

The enforcement tools are graded, running from a written undertaking from the trader up to prosecution in the courts. Under section 71 of the 2007 Act, the CCPC, or indeed any person, can apply to the Circuit Court or the High Court for an order prohibiting a trader from a prohibited practice. An Authorised Officer can also serve a compliance notice directing a business to remedy a contravention, and the trader has 14 days to appeal it to the District Court.

For breaches of price display rules, the Act allows a fixed payment notice of €300, payable within 28 days, with prosecution following if it goes unpaid.

Enforcement actions are recorded on the Consumer Protection List, which the CCPC publishes among its consumer protection cases.

The CCPC is most often confused with the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, and the two do quite different work. The GRAI, established under the Gambling Regulation Act 2024, licenses gambling operators and supervises their obligations under that Act, while the CCPC applies general consumer law to traders in every sector of the economy.

Neither body acts as your personal arbitrator.

The GRAI states on its own enquiries page that it has no responsibility for individual customer disputes with a gambling business, and that customers should escalate those directly with the operator. The CCPC says the same of itself in broader terms: it cannot take cases on behalf of individual consumers, though its staff screen helpline calls and reports and will act where they find a potential breach of the law. Complaints about the content of gambling advertisements are, for now, directed by the GRAI to the Advertising Standards Authority, until the GRAI takes complaints on breaches of advertising obligations under Part 7 of the 2024 Act. The GRAI made complaints procedure regulations as S.I. No. 170/2026 for Part 7, but the desk did not confirm which of their provisions are fully in operation, so check the GRAI’s list of commenced obligations before relying on them.

One more distinction is worth keeping straight. On 1 October 2026 the CCPC announced a co-ordinated action with other EU consumer authorities into nine online gaming companies, including the makers of Candy Crush and Minecraft, and that concerns video games rather than betting or casino operators.

A player usually meets the CCPC after a dispute has already gone badly with an operator, over an account, a payment or a term that looks unfair.

The CCPC’s guidance is to raise the issue with the business first, then make a formal complaint in writing that includes the date, the account or reference details, what went wrong and what remedy you want. If you believe an Irish-based business has breached your consumer rights, the CCPC offers a report-a-business route, and those reports help it decide which sectors and companies need action. Its helpline is +353 (0)1 402 5555 and its email is [email protected].

What I check first, when readers ask about this route, is where the operator is based, because the CCPC’s reporting route is aimed at Irish-based businesses and a site holding only a Malta, Kahnawake or Curaçao licence may sit well outside easy reach. A foreign licence does not give you the protection of an Irish one, and a CCPC report is not a refund mechanism. The CCPC also publishes guidance on gambling debt, pointing readers to the Problem Gambling Severity Index, a free self-test recommended by the GRAI.