For contracts entered since January 2025, built-in telecom price rises must be stated clearly in pounds and pence before you sign up.
Ofcom banned inflation-linked and percentage-based price-rise terms in new contracts from January 2025. If a new contract includes scheduled rises, the provider must tell you clearly, prominently and in pounds and pence what the price will increase by and when.
If the provider later increases the price beyond what you agreed, it must generally give at least one month’s notice and a right to exit without penalty. Older contracts can be governed by earlier terms, so the contract date matters.
Key points
- Check when the contract or recontract was agreed.
- Compare the actual increase against the pounds-and-pence rise disclosed at sale.
- A promotional discount ending is not automatically the same as an in-contract price rise.
- Unexpected variation beyond the agreed price path can create a penalty-free exit right.
Contracts from January 2025
Any specified in-contract rise should have been presented in monetary terms before the consumer was bound. This allows the customer to know the price path rather than having to predict future inflation.
Older contracts
Some older contracts can still contain inflation-linked clauses. Do not apply the 2025 rule retrospectively without checking when the contract was entered or renewed.
Unagreed increases
Where the provider changes the price beyond the agreed terms, Ofcom’s contract rules require notice and can give the customer a right to leave without penalty. Preserve the change notification.
In practice
- Keep the original contract summary showing the future price.
- Calculate the expected rise yourself and compare it with the bill.
- If the provider claims you agreed the rise, ask where and how it was presented at the point of sale.
What to do
A practical next-step plan
- Find your contract/recontract date.
- Identify the disclosed price-rise term.
- Compare the bill with the agreed monetary increase.
- Raise a written complaint if it differs.
- Ask about penalty-free exit if the provider imposed an unagreed increase.
- Escalate to ADR if unresolved.
Common traps
Things that often confuse the issue
- Do not assume every annual increase is unlawful.
- Do not confuse discount expiry with contractual variation.
- Do not use the 2025 rule for an older contract without checking its terms.
Evidence worth keeping
Do the arithmetic.
Record the old monthly price, the new monthly price, the date of change and the remaining months of the minimum term. That turns an abstract complaint into a measurable amount and helps you decide whether the practical remedy is correction, refund, penalty-free exit or simply switching at the end of term.
Separate a pre-agreed rise from a unilateral contract change.
If the specific price change was already validly built into the agreement, an ordinary right to leave without charge may not arise merely because the scheduled date arrives. If the provider introduces a change that was not properly specified, or modifies the contract in another way, Ofcom’s contract-change rules can give a right to exit without penalty unless an exception applies.
Useful wording.
“Please identify whether this increase is a price change expressly specified at the point of sale or a subsequent contractual modification. If you rely on a pre-agreed increase, provide the pre-contract document showing the amount in pounds and pence and the date on which it was due to apply.”
A provider cannot cure poor point-of-sale disclosure merely by showing the term later.
If the complaint is that the rise was not made clear before you agreed, keep the contract summary, checkout screenshots, order confirmation and sales recording where available. The issue is what was prominently and transparently disclosed at the relevant decision point, not simply whether a clause exists somewhere in later paperwork.
The answer depends heavily on when the contract was entered or renewed.
Since 17 January 2025, new phone, broadband and pay-TV contracts cannot contain inflation-linked or percentage-based in-contract price-rise terms. Where a provider builds a future price rise into a new contract, it must set the rise out prominently and transparently in pounds and pence and say when it will happen. Legacy contracts can require separate analysis because older inflation-linked terms may still govern them.
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| When did you enter or renew the contract? | Determines which Ofcom price-transparency regime applied at sign-up. |
| Was the exact £/p rise shown before agreement? | A built-in rise must have been made sufficiently clear for post-January-2025 contracts. |
| Is this a contractual rise or a later provider change? | A later change not already specified can engage separate exit rights. |
| Are you still in the minimum term? | Affects the practical significance of any penalty-free exit right. |
For contracts entered from 17 January 2025, the price-rise term should be concrete
Ofcom banned inflation-linked and percentage-based rises in new contracts from 17 January 2025. If a provider builds an in-contract rise into a new consumer contract, the amount must be expressed clearly in pounds and pence and the timing must be made clear before sign-up.
That does not mean providers are prohibited from raising prices during a minimum term. It means the customer should know the actual contractual price path rather than being asked to accept an unknown future inflation figure.
Older contracts can still contain older-style inflation terms
A contract entered before the new rule took effect may still operate under a previously agreed inflation-linked term. Start with the date the relevant contract or recontract was entered, not the date the latest bill arrived.
A recontract or upgrade can reset the analysis
If you upgraded, renewed or accepted a new minimum term after January 2025, obtain that transaction’s contract summary and contract information. Do not rely on the pricing terms from the original account opening years earlier.
Pre-agreed rise versus later modification
| Situation | Question |
|---|---|
| Contract says £30, then £33 from a specified date | Was that price path prominent and transparent before consent? |
| Provider later announces £4 rise not in the agreed price path | Is this a contract modification requiring notice and a penalty-free exit right? |
| Price term says “may increase” with no clear amount | Does it comply with the current rule for the contract date? |
| Rise follows recontract | What did the new contract summary state? |
Calculate the disputed amount across the remaining term
If the rise is £3 per month and 14 months remain, the headline impact is £42 before considering any later scheduled change. This helps you decide whether you are seeking a correction, penalty-free exit or both. Keep the arithmetic separate from any complaint-handling redress.
Do not let the provider prove disclosure with a document you never received
If the dispute is whether the price term was made clear at sign-up, ask for the contract summary and contract information for your actual transaction, together with the sales recording or online journey where relevant. A current webpage showing today’s pricing does not establish what was disclosed when you agreed.
Common price-rise responses
| Provider says | Ask next |
|---|---|
| “It is in our terms.” | Show the term supplied before I consented and explain the contract date. |
| “Everyone’s price increased.” | That does not establish this customer agreed to this rise. |
| “You cannot leave without a fee.” | Is the increase precisely the pre-agreed rise, or a later adverse modification? |
| “The rise is only a few pounds.” | Compliance does not turn on whether the provider considers the amount small. |
Evidence
Preserve the pricing position at the moment of sale.
Keep the contract summary, detailed contract information, confirmation email, sales transcript/recording where available, first bill, price-rise notice and any recontract documents. The central question is often not “can telecom prices rise?” but “what price path did this consumer actually agree?”
The decisive question, was this exact rise part of the contract you agreed?
| Situation | Likely starting point |
|---|---|
| New contract from 17 January 2025 clearly says £25, then £28 from a stated date | The pounds-and-pence increase was built into the bargain. The later increase does not normally create a new penalty-free exit right merely because it takes effect. |
| The contract says nothing about the amount, or the provider increases by more than the agreed amount | Ofcom says the provider must generally give at least 30 days’ notice and a 30-day opportunity to leave without exit fees. |
| Older contract uses an inflation/percentage mechanism | Check when the contract was entered. The ban on new inflation-linked/percentage rises applies to contracts entered from 17 January 2025. |
| You renewed or re-contracted after the rule change | Check the new contract summary, not the historic tariff you previously had. |
“It is only £3 more” is not the legal test
The size of an increase does not by itself decide whether it was contractually agreed. Compare the point-of-sale information, contract summary and price-rise term with the amount actually charged. A small unagreed change can still be a different problem from a larger increase that was clearly and prominently incorporated at the outset.
Continue from here
Related telecom guidance
Official sources
Check the rules behind this guide
- Ofcom: telecoms price rises, what are your rights?
- Ofcom: contracts
- Ofcom: Ban on inflation-linked price rises ↗
ConsumerWise explains these materials in plain English. Check the current official source where a deadline, rule about what the body can deal with or legal requirement may have changed.