Telecoms Consumer Charter promises no surprise bill hikes

The Government has announced a new Telecoms Consumer Charter, signed by major broadband and mobile providers, promising an end to "surprise" mid-contract price rises.

Ministers say the voluntary pledge will help households manage bills more predictably during ongoing cost-of-living pressures.

The Charter formalises principles that were already largely embedded in Ofcom's regulatory framework, raising questions about whether it represents new consumer protection or primarily a consolidation of existing rules.

Illustration: Choose.co.uk

Voluntary pricing commitments

The UK Government has published a new Telecoms Consumer Charter following a ministerial roundtable on mid-contract price rises.

BT, Virgin Media O2, VodafoneThree, Sky and TalkTalk have already signed the voluntary pledge, which remains open to additional signatories.

The document states that where a contract includes a mid-contract price increase, the "core subscription price" agreed at sign-up should be the price customers pay, with any exception limited to "unforeseeable and externally driven events that materially affect the cost of providing services".

The Charter also includes commitments on clearer presentation of pricing information, prominent communication of agreed price changes, and continued promotion of social tariffs.

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said, "Following action by this government, telecom companies have now agreed to end unexpected mid contract price rises and making social tariffs easier to access.

"These changes will make a real difference to millions of consumers across the country and help with the cost-of-living pressures."

Existing Ofcom pricing rules

Under the General Conditions of Entitlement set by Ofcom - specifically Condition C1 on contract requirements - providers must give customers at least one month's notice of any contract modification likely to be of material detriment and allow them to exit without penalty (C1.14-C1.15).

These provisions pre-date the recent debate over mid-contract price rises and form part of Ofcom's long-standing consumer protection framework.

Where a provider increases prices during a minimum term without having clearly set out the structure at the point of sale, customers must be given the opportunity to leave the contract.

Since January 2025, Ofcom has also required any scheduled mid-contract price increases to be displayed in pounds and pence before a customer signs up, replacing earlier inflation-linked percentage formulas.

These requirements are regulatory and enforceable across the UK broadband and mobile market.

Beyond contract modification protections, Ofcom has gradually expanded its fairness framework across the telecoms market over several years.

Proposals for fairer broadband and mobile contract rules in 2019 were followed by industry commitments to improve pricing transparency and exit rights, before the regulator's 2020 Fairness Framework embedded broader expectations around how providers should treat customers, particularly in areas such as clarity and financial vulnerability.

In 2022, Ofcom strengthened those protections further, including clearer expectations around social tariffs and support for customers struggling to pay.

Against that backdrop, many of the Charter's commitments on pricing transparency, communication and promotion of social tariffs reflect principles that have already been evolving within Ofcom's regulatory framework.

Reinforcement over reform

Why this Charter now?

The announcement follows heightened scrutiny of mid-contract pricing after O2 increased the level of its fixed annual pounds-and-pence price rise in October 2025 and applied the change to customers already in contract, prompting parliamentary debate over whether existing rules allowed providers too much latitude in how agreed increases could be implemented.

While O2 was not the only provider to increase the level of its fixed annual rise in 2025 - with BT, Virgin Media, VodafoneThree, and TalkTalk also announcing higher annual increases - scrutiny focused on O2 because the revised rate was applied to customers already within a minimum term rather than only to new or renewing customers.

Ministers were subsequently questioned over whether the Government should intervene, while Ofcom confirmed it would revisit aspects of its framework - including exit rights - though no further rule changes have yet been introduced.

The Charter therefore sits within a regulatory framework that has tightened in recent years, but which has also been tested by how mid-contract increases have been implemented in practice.

Rather than introducing new statutory controls, the Charter appears to formalise expectations around predictability and transparency, signalling that pricing mechanisms should not be applied in ways that undermine consumer expectations.