Ofcom Probes Unexpectedly High Phone, Internet Bills
Telecom regulator Ofcom has an online consultation to help with mobile and broadband bill shock
Ever received an unexpectedly high phone bill from your operator? Well, Ofcom is looking to tackle the ‘bill shock’ problem, urging consumers to make their complaints heard by the end of June.
The complaints may include any unexpectedly high mobile, landline, or broadband bill incurred in the past 12 months. Consumers can participate in Ofcom’s Call for Inputs via its online consultation response form, post or email at unexpectedlyhighbills@ofcom.org.uk, from 10 May to 24 June.
By launching the campaign, the UK communications regulator hopes to find out “whether there is a need for further action either by Ofcom or by communications providers”.
Bill shock
Despite the existing Ofcom rules where service providers are required to provide customers with “clear and transparent information about their contracts and bills,” the regulator receives a number of ‘bill shock’ complaints.
Six percent of UK consumers, according to its research, faced an unexpectedly high mobile phone bill in the past year, with 18 percent of those people receiving a bill of over £100 more than expected.
As for landlines, the Communications regulator revealed that five per cent of users had received an unusually high bill over the same period, with 9 per cent of those people ending up paying over £100 more than expected.
The average “bill shock” was between £31 and £50 for mobile phone services and between £21 and £30 for landlines.
Besides the Call for Inputs campaign, the communications regulator has provided consumers with an advice guide on what to do if they receive an unexpectedly high bill.
A call costs guide is also available for consumers to check the common numbers in use today, what they are used for and how much it costs to call them from a BT landline.
