Ofcom enforces ban on ‘nasty surprise’ mid-contract telecoms price rises
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UK phone, broadband and pay-TV firms can no longer impose hikes linked to unknown future rates of inflation. Millions of consumers will be protected from “nasty surprises” from Friday as new rules take effect that mean telecoms firms must tell people upfront – in “pounds and pence” – about any future price rises.
It means mobile phone, broadband and pay-TV companies are now banned from imposing mid-contract price increases linked to unknown future rates of inflation. The changes come 18 months after a Guardian investigation exposed “greedflation” in the telecoms sector, with millions of people facing mid-contract rises in monthly payments of up to 17.3%.
Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, is forcing firms to set out upfront, in clear monetary terms, details of any expected rises throughout the duration of their deals. To illustrate how the new rules work, Ofcom gave a sample scenario of an individual taking out a £30-a-month mobile phone contract. Until now, their contract might have stated that the monthly cost “will increase every April by the consumer price index rate published in the previous December, plus an additional 3.9%”.
From Friday, wording of that type will be swept away and inflation can no longer be used to calculate the new billing arrangement. Instead, the contract may typically state that the monthly price is “£30 until 31 March 2025, increasing to £31.50 on 1 April 2025 [and] £33 on 1 April 2026”.
Ofcom said: “From today, any price rise written into a customer’s contract will need to be set out in pounds and pence, prominently and transparently, at the point of sale, and providers will need to be clear about when any changes to prices will occur.
