The Online Safety Act 2023 (Fees) (Threshold Figure) Regulations 2025

Published: Thu 20th Nov 25

These Regulations, made by the Secretary of State following advice from Ofcom under the powers granted by the Online Safety Act 2023, establish the "threshold figure" at £250 million.

This figure determines which providers of regulated online services must notify Ofcom and pay fees to cover the regulator's online safety functions, with the threshold taking effect from the charging year beginning on 1st April 2026.

Arguments For

Establishes a clear, quantifiable threshold (£250 million) against which online service providers must measure their worldwide revenue to determine if they are subject to notification and fee obligations under the Online Safety Act 2023.
Ensures that the costs incurred by Ofcom in exercising its online safety functions are recovered fairly from the larger service providers that benefit from or are regulated under the Act.
Provides legal certainty by specifying the exact commencement date (11th December 2025) and the start date for the relevant charging year (1st April 2026), allowing industry to prepare compliance measures.

Arguments Against

The setting of a specific revenue threshold could incentivize large platforms to structure their services or reporting methods to remain just below the £250 million mark to avoid regulatory fees, potentially impacting compliance efforts.
The imposition of fees, even on larger entities, introduces new compliance costs and administrative burdens related to calculating and reporting qualifying worldwide revenue to Ofcom concerning the 2026/2027 charging year.
While an assessment of likely impact was conducted by Ofcom, the regulations themselves finalize a figure that dictates a financial requirement on industry sectors, potentially affecting investment decisions based on expected regulatory overhead.

The Secretary of State makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 86(2) of the Online Safety Act 2023. In accordance with section 86(2) of that Act, the Secretary of State makes these Regulations having taken advice from OFCOM.

The responsible Secretary of State issues these statutory regulations using specific powers granted under section 86(2) of the Online Safety Act 2023.

Furthermore, this action was taken only after the Secretary of State formally received and considered advice provided by Ofcom, as required by the same section of the Act.

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Online Safety Act 2023 (Fees) (Threshold Figure) Regulations 2025.

This names the official title of the statutory instrument, which is the Online Safety Act 2023 (Fees) (Threshold Figure) Regulations 2025.

(2) These Regulations come into force on 11th December 2025.

The regulations officially become legally effective on December 11, 2025.

(3) These Regulations extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The legal jurisdiction covered by these regulations applies throughout the entire United Kingdom: England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

(1) For the purposes of sections 83 and 84 of the Online Safety Act 2023 (duty to notify OFCOM and duty to pay fees), the threshold figure is £250 million.

This section legally sets the 'threshold figure' at £250 million.

This specific financial amount is used to define which online service providers have a legal duty to notify Ofcom and subsequently pay fees, as outlined in sections 83 and 84 of the Online Safety Act 2023.

(2) The threshold figure specified in paragraph (1) takes effect from the beginning of the charging year beginning with 1st April 2026.

Although the regulations commence in December 2025, the specified £250 million threshold for fee assessment purposes only becomes active at the start of the next relevant charging year, which is April 1, 2026.

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