Ban on mid-contract mobile price hikes coming in January 2025
Mid-contract price hikes for mobile, broadband, and TV packages will be banned from January 2025.
Telecoms regulator Ofcom has told all providers that they must outline price changes “in pounds and pence”. The rules will apply to all new deals starting on 17th January next year.
The move follows a surge in complaints from customers about sudden, inflation-linked price rises, which were not revealed at the point of sale.
Ofcom says scores of telecom companies have introduced price bumps in recent years using an “inflation-plus-3.9%” formula. The underhand tactic has left customers blindsided by increases they initially hadn’t budgeted for.
The regulator says providers must now provide all the information customers need in a “clear and comprehensible way”.
Ofcom’s decision comes after an exhaustive consultation process lasting longer than six months. The regulator first proposed the ruling in December last year.
The company’s policy director, Cristina Luna-Esteban, said: “People need to have certainty about their monthly outgoings.”
The practice of inflation-linked hikes is widespread; six in ten broadband and mobile customers are currently subjected to these unexpected changes, according to Ofcom.
Esteban believes banning these surprise rises will allow consumers to make a fairer and more relevant comparison of providers when shopping for deals.
However, some critics don’t think the rules go far enough. Citizens Advice spokesperson Tom MacInnes believes providers can still “sneakily” use ‘prices may vary’ in their contracts to get around the ruling.
He concluded: “That’s why we’ve always been clear that fixed should mean fixed.”