Proactive Investors - Virgin Media, BT Group PLC (LON:BT), BT subsidiaries EE and Plusnet, and TalkTalk have been told by the Advertising Standards Agency to make mid-contract price rises in their broadband offerings clearer in their marketing materials.
The ASA upheld a multitude of complaints that the presentation of mid-contract price increases in their online advertisement were “likely to mislead”.
While the advertising watchdog acknowledged that mid-contract price risers were included in these companies’ promotional materials, they were criticised for lacking sufficient clarity.
In upholding complaints against BT, the ASA stated: “We considered that the placement and size of the price rise information was likely to be overlooked by consumers, who would want to scroll down the page to engage with the details of the individual broadband packages on offer.
“We therefore did not consider that it would be clear to them how, or by what means, the monthly charge would be affected after that date.”
Virgin Broadband’s pricing regime “was not immediately distinguishable for consumers”, said the ASA.
Broadband providers have historically linked their prices to inflation plus 3.9%.
In July, Ofcom banned the practice of linking broadband and mobile contract prices to inflation, forcing providers to clearly set out in pounds and pence what their price rises are at the point of sale.
These rules come into force from January 2025.