The UK-based consumer rights organisation, Which?, has called on the broadband regulator to ban mid-contract price hikes because they could be costing customers up to £150 more than they expected to pay over their contract.
In its condemnation of the practice, Which? said that the hikes were unpredictable for consumers and said providers should do the ‘right thing’ and abolish the practice - it also called on Ofcom to put a ban in place to protect customers.
Providers would argue that price hikes are necessary so they can raise their prices in line with the cost of maintaining their infrastructure but for consumers they leave a bad taste.
Which? said the increases are usually done in line with the Consumer Price Index or the Retail Price Index then an unexplained 3 to 3.9% is added on too. The consumer advocacy organisation said that it expects BT, EE, Plusnet, Shell Energy, TalkTalk, and Vodafone to increase prices by 8% on average in 2024 while Virgin Media customers could be hit with a 10% rise.
Which? said that these prices would follow huge 14% rises that consumers experience in 2023 due to out-of-control inflation. All these big hikes come at a time when the price of everything else is going up and are less likely to be able to be afforded by customers.
It said that BT and EE customers who took out a contract in January 2023 would see the highest average price hikes over their contract at about £147.43 and £147.31 respectively. Vodafone and Plusnet customers would be hit quite hard too with contracts costing customers an extra £122.38 and £117.87 respectively.
While an outright ban on price rises may be too heavy handed, customers should at least be well-informed by prospective providers that mid-contract price hikes should be expected. The worst part about the hikes is that customers don’t even realise prices will go up until they get an email saying prices are going up, giving customers a bad experience.
Source: Which?