United Kingdom: Office of Communications adopted Statement of Charging Principles for online safety fees

On 17 March 2026, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) published the final Statement of Charging Principles (SoCP) for the online safety fees regime under Section 88(4) of the Online Safety Act 2023. The SoCP applies to the 2026/2027 charging year (1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027) and subsequent charging years, and sets out the principles for determining fees payable by providers of regulated services under Section 84 of the Act. It does not cover fees recoverable under Schedule 10 of the Act. The SoCP was subject to public consultation from 21 November 2025 to 9 January 2026. Under the regime, providers are liable to pay fees where their qualifying worldwide revenue (QWR) in the relevant qualifying period meets or exceeds GBP 250 million, as set by the Secretary of State under the Online Safety Act 2023 (Fees) (Threshold Figure) Regulations 2025. Providers with UK referable revenues below GBP 10 million in the relevant qualifying period are exempt. Fees are calculated as a uniform percentage of each provider’s QWR, ensuring cost recovery of Ofcom’s online safety functions without exceeding total costs. Any over- or under-recovery is carried forward to the following charging year. For the initial 2026/2027 charging year, tariff tables and invoices are expected to be issued in Q3 of calendar year 2026.